Communicative Use of Triadic Eye Gaze in Children With Down Syndrome, Autism Spectrum Disorder, and Other Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

Abstract

Purpose This study examines differences in the communicative use of triadic eye gaze (TEG) during a communicative interaction in 2 neurodevelopmental disorders: Down syndrome (DS) and autism spectrum disorders (ASD), and a 3rd group of varying disabilities associated with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDDs). Also, the relationship between TEG use and language abilities was explored. Method Participants were 45 children, 15 in each group. The frequency of TEG was coded during a scripted communication assessment when children were between 3 and 6 years of age (37–73 months). Receptive and expressive language was measured using raw scores from the Mullen Scales of Early Learning concurrently between 3 and 6 years and again 2 years later when children were between 5 and 8 years (59–92 months). Results Descriptively, children with DS had a higher frequency of TEG than children with ASD and IDD, but significant differences were only observed between children with DS and ASD. More TEG at Time 1 in children with DS was associated with higher receptive language at Time 1 and higher expressive language at Time 2. For children with ASD, a trend for a positive association between TEG at Time 1 and language abilities at Time 2 was observed. No significant associations were observed for children with IDD. Conclusion Children with DS used TEG significantly more than children with ASD in this sample. Identifying strengths and weaknesses in TEG use is important because providing caregiver training to facilitate TEG can result in increased opportunities to respond with language models and promote language development.

Prelinguistic communication complexity predicts expressive language in initial minimally verbal autistic children

“…Consistent with previous work (Murillo et al, 2021), the two groups of autistic children with different CCDI (Time 2) levels produced similar total prelinguistic communicative behaviours in our study. We are not surprised that autistic children demonstrated low frequencies of single and multimodal eye gaze communicative behaviours because previous studies have also described this outcome (Hahn et al, 2019;Murillo et al, 2021). We also found that single gestures were the most fre-quent of all communication behaviours in the low CCDI group, and the two groups used similar amounts of single gestures.…”

“…We are not surprised that autistic children demonstrated low frequencies of single and multimodal eye gaze communicative behaviours because previous studies have also described this outcome (Hahn et al., 2019; Murillo et al., 2021). We also found that single gestures were the most frequent of all communication behaviours in the low CCDI group, and the two groups used similar amounts of single gestures.…”

“…These relationships were also found in autistic children. For example, there is evidence that the number of gestures predict later expressive language (Dimitrova et al., 2020; Ramos‐Cabo et al., 2022), proportion of communicative vocalisations and consonant inventory are associated with later expressive language (Gerhold et al., 2020; McDaniel et al., 2020; Yoder et al., 2015), and there was a trend for a positive association between the frequency of communicative eye gaze and later expressive language (Hahn et al., 2019) in autistic children. However, this body of research has primarily focused on the number of individual early prelinguistic communication skills and their relationship to later expressive language.…”

Joint engagement and early language abilities in young children with Down syndrome

“…These findings, that is concurrent relationships at Time 2, align with the view that the dynamic process of joint engagement supports language development ( Bakeman and Adamson, 1984 ; Adamson et al, 2004 ; Paparella and Kasari, 2004 ; Bottema-Beutel et al, 2014 ). Further, the association between joint engagement and receptive and expressive language abilities in DS is echoed in prior research on joint attention—which is similar to joint engagement—and related supportive skills, like triadic eye gaze, ( Mundy et al, 1995 ; Harris et al, 1996 ; Seager et al, 2018 ; Hahn et al, 2019 ). Thus, targeting joint engagement may be especially helpful for language interventions for children with DS into the second year.…”

Memahami Anak Berkebutuhan Khusus: Down Syndrome

“…Ia berinteraksi dengan orang lain melalui gerakan tubuhan dan tatapan mata. Namun pada beberapa kasus, terapi atau perlakuan terhadap penderit DS terkait kemampuan verbal sudah mulai dilakukan meski masih banyak kendala yang dtiemukan namun ini untuk mengantisipasi mereka dari keterbatasan komunikasi dengan lingkungan [21]. Karna umumnya penderita DS yang kesulitan menyampaikan pesan secara verbal akan mengalami peningkatan dan ketidakstabilan emosi [22].…”