Author ORCID Identifier
Allison Gladfelter: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2573-2035
Document Type
Article
Publication Title
Journal of Communication Disorders
Abstract
Purpose
Associations between visual and verbal input allow children to form, augment, and refine their semantic representations within their mental lexicons. However, children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and with developmental language disorder (DLD; also known as specific language impairment) process visual and verbal information differently than their typically developing peers, which may impact how they incorporate visual and verbal features into their semantic representations. The purpose of this exploratory study was to investigate how children with ASD and DLD use visually and verbally presented input to produce semantic representations of newly learned words.
Method
Semantic features produced by 36 school-aged children (12 with ASD, 12 with DLD, and 12 with typical language development) were extracted from previously collected novel word definitions and coded based on their initial presentation modality (either visual, verbal, or both in combination) during an extended novel word learning paradigm. These features were then analyzed to explore group differences in the use of visual and verbal input.
Results
The children with ASD and DLD produced significantly more visually-presented semantic features than their typical peers in their novel word definitions. There were no differences between groups in the proportion of semantic features presented verbally or via both modalities in combination. Also, the children increased their production of semantic features presented via both modalities combined across the sessions; this same increase in production was not observed for the semantic features taught in either the visual or verbal modality alone.
Conclusion
Children with ASD and DLD benefit from visually presented semantic information, either in isolation or combined with verbal input, during tasks of word learning. Also, the reinforcement of combined visual-verbal input appears to enhance semantic learning over time.
First Page
105921
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcomdis.2019.105921
Publication Date
2019
Recommended Citation
Gladfelter, A., Barron, K.L., & Johnson, E. (2019) Visual and verbal semantic productions in children with ASD, DLD, and typical language. Journal of Communication Disorders, 82, 105921. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcomdis.2019.105921
Original Citation
Gladfelter, A., Barron, K.L., & Johnson, E. (2019) Visual and verbal semantic productions in children with ASD, DLD, and typical language. Journal of Communication Disorders, 82, 105921. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcomdis.2019.105921
Department
Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language and Literature| School of Allied Health and Communicative Disorders
Sponsorship
National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) grants R01DC004826 (PI: Lisa Goffman) and 2T32DC000030 (PI: Laurence Leonard)
