Learning new words from overhearing in children with ASD

项目概要/摘要 大多数自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）儿童也有低于年龄的词汇知识。这些缺陷与他们糟糕的社会沟通技能有关。学龄前儿童的词汇知识是一个强有力的预测结果。因此，了解患有ASD的学龄前儿童如何获得新词汇至关重要。在目前的提案中，我们研究了ASD学龄前儿童和典型发展（TD）儿童如何在对社交技能要求最低的情况下学习词汇，看看这些是否可以为词汇教学提供替代途径。 具体来说，我们研究儿童是否可以在无意中听到的情况下学习新的单词，在这种情况下，他们没有直接解决，而是见证了两个成年人之间的对话，其中一个人介绍了一个新词。先前的研究表明，TD儿童可以在这种情况下学习新单词，PI的初步证据表明ASD儿童也可以。我们还研究了孩子们是否可以从这些互动中学习，当他们发生在视频中，以及他们是否可以获得动词和代词以及名词从这些互动。 这项研究将揭示ASD和TD语言学习的机制，并将支持有效的语言干预措施的发展。

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Most children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) also have below-age vocabulary knowledge. These deficits are linked to their poor social communication skills. Vocabulary knowledge in the preschool years is a powerful predictor of outcomes. It is therefore crucial to understand how preschoolers with ASD can acquire new vocabulary. In the current proposal, we study how preschoolers with ASD and typically-developing (TD) children learn vocabulary in situations that place minimal demands on social communication skills to see if these can provide an alternate avenue for vocabulary instruction. Specifically, we study whether children can learn new words in overhearing contexts in which they are not directly addressed, but instead are witnesses to a conversation between two adults, one of whom introduces a new word to the other. Prior work has shown that TD children can learn new words in such situations, and there is preliminary evidence from the PI’s; work that children with ASD can as well. We also examine whether children can learn from these interactions when they take place on video, and whether they can acquire verbs and pronouns as well as nouns from these interactions. This research will shed light on the mechanisms underlying language learning in ASD and in TD and will support the development of effective language interventions.