The Relationship Between Narrative Proficiency and Syntactic Complexity of Spontaneously Generated Stories Elicited from Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)
Class
Article
Graduation Year
2018
College
Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services
Department
Communicative Disorders and Deaf Education Department
Faculty Mentor
Sandi Gillam
Presentation Type
Oral Presentation
Abstract
Purpose:
Complex syntax is important for the development of syntactically complex, coherent and logically constructed narratives. Narrative discourse is a means for communicating perceptions, feelings, values and attitudes within cultural contexts. The ability to produce coherent and cohesive narratives has been linked to competence in socialization, working memory and academics. Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) vary widely in terms of their mastery of complex syntax and often demonstrate difficulty with narrative comprehension and production.
The purpose of this study was to examine the syntactic complexity of spontaneously generated stories of 5 children ranging in age from 8-12 with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) before, during and after narrative intervention.
Method: Children participated in narrative intervention for 45 minutes, twice weekly for a period of time ranging from 19 to 33 sessions.
Results: Results indicated that during baseline when children were not receiving instruction, their story retells contained more simple sentences than complex sentences. The use of complex sentences was observed to increase as children became more proficient in their narrative production skills.
Discussion: Students generally improved on narrative discourse skills as a result of participating in the narrative intervention. The implications for clinicians working with students with ASD are compelling and suggest that narrative intervention may be associated with the additional benefit of improved complex sentence use.
Location
Room 204
Start Date
4-13-2017 10:30 AM
End Date
4-13-2017 11:45 AM
The Relationship Between Narrative Proficiency and Syntactic Complexity of Spontaneously Generated Stories Elicited from Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)
Room 204
Purpose:
Complex syntax is important for the development of syntactically complex, coherent and logically constructed narratives. Narrative discourse is a means for communicating perceptions, feelings, values and attitudes within cultural contexts. The ability to produce coherent and cohesive narratives has been linked to competence in socialization, working memory and academics. Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) vary widely in terms of their mastery of complex syntax and often demonstrate difficulty with narrative comprehension and production.
The purpose of this study was to examine the syntactic complexity of spontaneously generated stories of 5 children ranging in age from 8-12 with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) before, during and after narrative intervention.
Method: Children participated in narrative intervention for 45 minutes, twice weekly for a period of time ranging from 19 to 33 sessions.
Results: Results indicated that during baseline when children were not receiving instruction, their story retells contained more simple sentences than complex sentences. The use of complex sentences was observed to increase as children became more proficient in their narrative production skills.
Discussion: Students generally improved on narrative discourse skills as a result of participating in the narrative intervention. The implications for clinicians working with students with ASD are compelling and suggest that narrative intervention may be associated with the additional benefit of improved complex sentence use.