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Summary
This article describes the language of autistic children, focusing mainly on the acquisition of language. It suggests that the popular belief that language is solely gained by social interaction is slightly wrong. Other factors affect autistic children's language. This is not suggesting that social interactions are not important, just that they are not the only reason for language delays.
Autistic children tend to use the word "you" for themselves, and "I" for their conversational partner. Is this, as the latest hypothesis states, a "lack of attention to the speech addressed to other people?" This hypothesis is supported by the somewhat general knowledge that autistic children rely more on themselves for interaction than on others. Why would they pay much attention to a person/people who are only there (in the child's mind) to hear their story?
These "reversal errors" are not limited to autistic children. They are occasionally found in normal children, deaf children learning sign language, and blind children.
The author also explains that autistic children may not realize that different people see, do, perceive, and say things uniquely. This knowledge is important in understanding the speaker and listener in a conversation.
Guided Practice
Children with Downs Syndrome were compared with children with autism in this article. I found the comparison slightly confusing. The children with Downs Syndrome were the control group in an experiment, but is this comparison wrong? What do you think about the language development of autistic children? Should it be compared to the language development of children with other disabilities?
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11 comments:
The comparison to children with other disabilities may help researchers find similarities to the autistic children. In my opinion, that would be the only valid reason for a comparison. It's very interesting about the self-interaction that takes place with an autistic child. This makes me wonder what else is going on in the mind of an autistic child.
I have never had experience with anybody who was Austistic or had Down Syndrome. So reading all this information on the topic is really interesting. The reversal in speech is noticed in all different types of children, I know I have encountered young children who say "you" meaning "I", and "I" meaning the listener. I think it is something that can be easily mixed up when first learning grammar and the way to speak. I think when they compare children with different disabilities its good for seeing differences between each disability, but not necessarily good because they are different disabilities.
I think it would be a mistake not to note the similarities in the two disabilities (autism and down syndrome), but it seems like they are so different and vary from child to child that it would also be a mistake to put them in such a similar category and test. I have been around a lot of people with these disabilities and I have noticed the different uses of "I" and "you" in some of their speech, but not all of them. The comparisons of the two may be good for general understanding of the problems, but not any further than that.
I have not really learned that much about autistic children, so it was interesting to learn that the children say "you" when they are really trying to mean "I". I think there might be a link with children who are autistic and children who have other disabilities.I don't think that autistic children should be treated the same as other children with different disabilities such as Downs Syndrome, but it could also be research together to help solve some of the mysteries of language developments.
In any scientific experiment, there must be a control group, but the standard operating procedure would be to make children without disabilities that control group. That would help to further understand Autism in relation to "normal" children. However, if those experiments reach a stale point, bringing in children with other disabilities may help in a compare/contrast aspect which could, in turn, help us understand Autism on a deeper level. As someone with little background in scientific research and little first-hand knowledge of Autism, all that I can say is this: Help those children any way you can.
I have not had any experience with any children with a disability. As far as researching children with disabilities I feel that it would not be detrimental to compare and contrast different disabilities such as down syndrome and autism. On the other hand, treating children with different disabilities can be harmful because one child may have a different level of understanding than a child with a different disability.
I am assuming children with Downs Syndrome can be compared to children with different disabilities, but there are also some major differences between disabilities as well. Autistic language development seems like an extremely interesting topic! It would be nice to know the similarities between Autism and other disabilities in order to help children in the classroom.
I think it is interesting that reseachers chose to compare autistic children to children with down syndrome. I think it will help them compare the two, but not to find out why speak the way they do.
Since Autism is such a common and new disability in children, I think comparing them with children of other disabilities is very useful and relevant. It gives researchers an insight on the similarities and differences in these disabilities. I actually have a cousin that is Autistic and one that has Down Syndrome, and in my opinion the one that has down syndrome is more sociable and interactive with others. She can talk and is very smart. On the other hand, my cousin that is Autistic is about 8 years old, he can not talk, and he does not focus at all. He will act like you are not even there. I don't really get to see him often, but one day at church I was sitting in front of him and he started rubbing my hair. I turned around and looked at him and he smiled at me. The whole time at church he sat next to me, rubbed my hair and smiled. Everybody was surprised, because this was the first time that anyone had ever seen him focus on something.
Is the comparison beneficial because we know more about Down Syndrome than we do about autism? If that's the case, making comparisons between the two would be a good place to start research. However, since there is a difference, eventually we'd have to learn that...
This is especially important to learn because the number of autistic children is rising, isn't it? I think it's 1/6, but I'm not sure about that.
I haven't met anyone autistic, but I actually work with a guy who has down syndrome. I mean, all he does is clean the windows, but he's such a nice person. He speaks pretty well, though, so I've never noticed anything like the "you" and "I" mentioned in the article. Overall, though, the article was an interesting read, especially since I didn't know anything about the topic to begin with.
I believe it would be beneficial to compare the two, but children with Autism should also be compared to "normal" children in experiments, as I am sure they are. Autism is a very interesting disability and I'm sure it is beneficial for research to be conducted from all sorts of different angles.
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