How Single-Word and Telegraphic Simplification Affects Language Processing and Word Learning in Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

项目总结/摘要 绝大多数患有自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）的幼儿表现出严重和持续的 语言发展的延迟对他们形成社会关系的能力产生了负面影响， 学校，并实现最佳的生活质量。鉴于语言障碍的严重性及其持久影响， 已经开发了许多干预措施来提高ASD儿童的语言技能。一个核心战略， 这种干预是为了让成年人改变他们说话的方式，以帮助儿童理解和学习 口语-例如，通过简化他们的话语，相对于成年人的话语长度， 谈话然而，该领域缺乏控制，实验证据，关于语言简化如何 影响儿童理解和学习口语的能力。这种知识上的差距， 严重阻碍循证实践和科学进步。幸运的是，我们的团队已经验证， 完善了解决先前工作局限性所需的工具。在拟议的研究中，我们采用了- 一个观察话语简化对儿童语言实时影响的听时范式 处理和单词学习。作为一种基于屏幕的任务，边看边听的行为任务有限 要求，使其适合具有广泛能力的儿童（包括那些最低限度 口头）。拟议项目的目标是确定语言简化如何影响语言 处理和单词学习。参与者将是104名ASD儿童（2 - 4岁 年龄：具有广泛的能力。孩子们将完成标准化的评估和寻找，而- 听力任务。基于强有力的初步数据，我们的中心假设是，简化将产生负面影响。 影响处理和学习。这个中心假设将通过3个具体目标来解决：1）确定如何 单个单词和电报简化影响ASD幼儿的语言处理。（二） 确定单个单词和电报简化如何影响ASD幼儿的单词学习。第三章 评估儿童的特征，这些特征可能会缓和语言简化对语言处理的影响 和自闭症儿童的单词学习。无论结果如何，这些结果都将具有强大的 对理论和临床实践的影响。研究结果将是重要的，因为它们将决定如何语言 简化影响儿童理解和学习口语的能力。该项目还将 有助于我们系统地评估成分（和可能的活性成分）的长期目标 早期语言干预

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT The vast majority of young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) demonstrate severe and persistent delays in language development that negatively impact their ability to form social relationships, succeed in school, and achieve an optimal quality of life. Given the severity of language delays and their lasting impact, many interventions have been developed to improve language skills in children with ASD. A central strategy in such interventions is for adults to modify the way they speak to help children understand and learn from spoken language—for example, by simplifying their utterances, relative to utterance length in adult conversation. However, the field lacks controlled, experimental evidence regarding how linguistic simplification impacts children’s ability to understand and learn from spoken language. This gap in knowledge poses a significant barrier to evidence-based practice and scientific progress. Fortunately, our team has validated and refined the tools needed to address the limitations of prior work. In the proposed study, we adopt the looking- while-listening paradigm to examine real-time effects of utterance simplification on children’s language processing and word learning. As a screen-based task, looking-while-listening has limited behavioral task demands, making it appropriate for children with a wide range of abilities (including those who are minimally verbal). The objective of the proposed project is to determine how linguistic simplification affects language processing and word learning in young children with ASD. Participants will be 104 children with ASD (2 – 4 years old) with a broad range of abilities. Children will complete standardized assessments and looking-while- listening tasks. Based on strong preliminary data, our central hypothesis is that simplification will negatively affect processing and learning. This central hypothesis will be addressed by 3 Specific Aims: 1) Determine how single-word and telegraphic simplification affects language processing in young children with ASD. 2) Determine how single-word and telegraphic simplification affects word learning in young children with ASD. 3) Evaluate child characteristics that may moderate the effects of linguistic simplification on language processing and word learning in young children with ASD. Regardless of the outcome, these results will have a strong impact on theory and clinical practice. Findings will be significant because they will determine how linguistic simplification affects children’s ability to understand and learn from spoken language. This project will also contribute to our long-term goal of systematically evaluating the components (and likely active ingredients) of early language interventions.