Rural Autistic Individuals - Supporting Expression

Study Summary

This research study investigates how hand gestures can support language comprehension and communication skills of hearing speaking, non-speaking, and/or minimally verbal individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), who are especially disadvantaged by the lack of accessible services in their rural communities. Individuals with other cognitive profiles, including Developmental Language Disorder (DLD), ADHD, Dyslexia, and others are welcome too. The study uses methods of eye tracking and recording of brain activity to understand how hand gestures adapted from signs from American Sign Language, such as \[cry\], can promote successful understanding of words like "cry". The overarching goal is to help families effectively utilize gestures to support communication with their children.

Primary Outcome

In a pretest-test-postest set up, the researchers measure participants' EEG/ERP (electroencephalography/event related potentials) signals in microvolts first prior to exposure to gestures, just with visual animations and auditory words; then the investigators expose participants to visual gestures with auditory words; and finally participants are exposed to animations and auditory words again, to see if gestures contributed to any changes in EEG/ERP.

Conditions Studied

Interventions

• BEHAVIORAL Speech-Gesture combinations

Study Locations (1)