This study is an investigation of how different populations–specifically individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD)–communicate and express themselves using American Sign Language (ASL). Previous research has found that hearing children with ASD produce more atypical, awkward, and slower facial expressions than typically developing (TD) children. Since sign language involves practice with facial expressions, we were curious to see whether deaf, signing children with ASD would show the same differences. For this study, we were investigating the question: do deaf children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) differ from typical deaf children in the number, duration, and types of facial movements they produce while signing?
We coded videos of 35 deaf children (12 ASD; 23 TD) performing a short sign language task using ELAN multimodal coding software. Videos were coded for number and duration of cheek, eye, eyebrow, head, and mouth movements.
Results showed that deaf children with ASD produced as many eye, cheek, head, and mouth movements as deaf TD children and more eyebrow movements than their deaf TD peers. The children with ASD also had significantly longer total duration of movements and total duration of eyebrow movements than TD children.
This study shows that deaf children with ASD who are exposed to ASL move their faces as much or more than deaf TD children. Future research should compare deaf children with ASD to hearing children with ASD to see if exposure to ASL helps children with ASD by giving them practice with facial expressions. Another area of investigation is to rate the quality of facial movements between deaf children with and without ASD.
As an aspiring audiologist, this research has contributed to my professional development by providing me with an understanding of different language modalities and how different populations communicate across these modalities.
Author: Hailey Kingsbury
Faculty Advisor: Aaron Shield, Speech Pathology and Audiology
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