Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.15516/cje.v24i1.4173
Pragmatic Language Skills in Storytelling of Five-Year- Old Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Five- Year-Old Children with Typical Development
Darija Skubic
orcid.org/0000-0002-6024-271X
; Faculty of Education University of Ljubljana Kardeljeva ploščad 16, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Anja Tkalec
; Kindergarten Zagorje ob Savi Cesta 9. avgusta 111, 1410 Zagorje ob Savi, Slovenia
Janez Jerman
; Faculty of Education University of Ljubljana Kardeljeva ploščad 16, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Abstract
Children with autism spectrum disorder have many similarities, but there are also
significant differences between them. The disorder varies in frequency and intensity,
and deviations in the development of verbal and non-verbal communication are
common. The problems often particularly reflect the pragmatic level of language,
i.e. the ability to use language appropriately and effectively in a social context. One
of the indicators for the development of a child’s pragmatic speech/language skills is
storytelling. This article presents the study in which the storytelling characteristics
of five-year-old children with autism spectrum disorder and the storytelling
characteristics of five-year-old children with typical development were compared
using the Little Glove Storytelling Test. The overall performance of children with
autism spectrum disorder in the Little Glove Storytelling Test was statistically
significantly lower than that of their peers with typical development. We found that
at least some of the children with autism spectrum disorder are able to invent stories
comparable to the stories of children with typical development, but they have lower
scores on most indicators for story evaluation. For those children, it is necessary to
provide support and help at both the grammatical and pragmatic levels of language.
Keywords
autism spectrum disorder; early childhood; Little Glove Storytelling Test; narrative ability
Hrčak ID:
280320
URI
Publication date:
18.5.2022.
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