Deictic Gesture Production in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Down Syndrome, and Typically Developing Children During Dyadic Interaction

Background: Deictic gestures are the first intentional form of communication that predict the emergence of first words. Deictic gestures include reaching, pointing, giving, and showing. Objectives: To profile and compare the frequency and types of deictic gestures in Tamil-speaking children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), Down syndrome (DS), and typically developing (TD) children during dyadic parent-child interaction. Method: Forty-five Tamil-speaking children (28 male and 17 female) and their parents participated in this study. They were divided into three groups (ASD, DS, and TD). The parents were instructed to play and interact with their children, as they do at home, using the provided toy set, and this session was video-recorded. Deictic gestures such as reaching, pointing, giving, and showing were analyzed with a specific coding scheme. Results: On a Kruskal-Wallis test, a statistically significant difference across the three groups (P < .05) was obtained for the total frequency of deictic gestures, use of pointing, giving, and showing gestures. The total frequency of deictic gestures and their types, such as pointing, giving, and showing gestures, used by the ASD group was less compared to the DS and TD groups. Conclusion: This study highlighted that, along with speech and language difficulties, children with ASD have deficits in producing deictic gestures. Children with DS have speech and language difficulties, but they use deictic gestures in order to communicate with their parents during interaction. This varied profile of deictic gesture use can be used for early identification, differential diagnosis, and setting intervention goals.