Characteristics of speech purpose of autistic children from 3 to 6 years old in Vietnam

Abstract

The most crucial tool for human communication is language. People can comprehend values via perception, experience, and human knowledge through language-based communication activities. Nevertheless, language and communication are the biggest obstacles in children with autism. In this article, the researchers focused on analyzing the characteristics of autistic children's speech purposes (declarative speech, interrogative speech, imperative speech, other types of speech) during the period from 3 to 6 years old in order to see their ability to use speech according to different purposes in comparison with typically developing children of the same age. The study's participants consist of 15 autistic children in Hanoi, comprising 9 males and 6 females, divided into 7 with mild autism, 4 with moderate autism, and 4 with severe autism. The article's findings can assist specialists, parents, and those who are interested in autistic children in assessing the child's language abilities in terms of speech characteristics according to the speech's purpose. Narrative speech makes up the greatest proportion and amount of all speech by purpose in kids with autism. This high prevalence of narrative speech is comparable to the developmental process in typically developing children. Nevertheless, in typically developing children, interrogative speech comes second in quantity after narrative, but for autistic children, this type of speech has the lowest quantity and rate among all speech by purpose. Based on these findings, a strategy for promptly intervening in the language development of children can be formulated.