Analysis of social interaction gestures in infants with autism.
This study analyzes the emergent use of gestures used among 9-12-month-old infants with autism and typical development using retrospective video analysis. The purpose of the present investigation was to examine the frequency, initiation, prompting, and diversity of types of gestures used for social interaction purposes. It was hypothesized that a restricted variety in type(s) of gestures as well as fewer child-initiated gestures and more prompted gestures would be associated with later diagnosis of autism. Logistic regression analysis found that decreased variety in type of gestures used was significantly associated with autism status. Neither number of total gestures nor initiation of gestures (child-initiated vs. prompted) was significantly associated with autism status.
Colgan
Siobhan E
SE
School of Education, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 27599, USA. siobhan_colgan@unc.edu
Lanter
Elizabeth
E
McComish
Cara
C
Watson
Linda R
LR
Crais
Elizabeth R
ER
Baranek
Grace T
GT
D001321:Autistic Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005868:Gestures; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D018730:Infant Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D015588:Observer Variation; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014743:Videotape Recording