Different Ways of Making a Point: A Study of Gestural Communication in Typical and Atypical Early Development.
Kids with autism point less and use odd handshapes—watch for index-finger, no-contact points during screenings.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team filmed 2- to young learners during free play.
They counted every pointing gesture from kids with autism, typical kids, and kids with other delays.
They scored each point for handshape and whether the finger touched the toy.
What they found
Children with autism pointed less often than typical peers.
When they did point, they rarely used the classic index-finger, no-touch style.
Instead they used whole-hand reaches or poked the object.
How this fits with other research
Falck-Ytter et al. (2012) and Bigham et al. (2013) also used eye-tracking and found gaze problems in preschool autism.
These studies look different—one watches eyes, the other watches hands—but together they show the same story: autistic kids use fewer clear social signals.
Stieglitz Ham et al. (2008) found older autistic kids struggle to copy meaningless gestures.
Ramos-Cabo et al. (2021) now shows the trouble starts earlier, with basic pointing.
The new work does not clash with older studies; it simply zooms in on the very first gestures toddlers make.
Why it matters
During intake, count not just how often a child points, but how the finger looks.
A flat hand or a finger that touches the toy is a red flag.
This quick check can speed referral and start help sooner.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Deictic pointing is among the most impaired gestures in children with autism. Research on typical development demonstrates that contact with the referent and handshape when pointing, are associated with different communicative intentions and developmental stages. Despite their importance, the morphological features of pointing remain largely unexplored in autism. The aim of the present study was to map out pointing production in autism with a focus on handshape and contact with the referent. Participants (age range = 1-6 years old) with ASD (n = 16), at high risk for autism (n = 13) and typically developing children (n = 18) interacted with their caregivers in a gesture elicitation task. Results showed that children with ASD produced fewer pointing gestures overall and fewer index finger pointing without contact with the referent compared to the typically developing children. LAY SUMMARY: Children with autism produce less gestures than typical children, and pointing gestures appear to be more affected than other gesture types. Whether children point using their index finger or the palm, and whether they touch or not the referent is crucial for understanding communicative intentions. This is the first study to document experimentally exactly how pointing gestures differ in autism in comparison to typical development. We found important qualitative differences in the communicative patterns of children with autism and at risk for autism, that may serve to identify potential new markers for early diagnosis. Autism Res 2021, 14: 984-996. © 2020 The Authors. Autism Research published by International Society for Autism Research and Wiley Periodicals LLC.
Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research, 2021 · doi:10.1044/2019_jslhr-19-00013