Investigating the relationship between language and picture understanding in children with autism spectrum disorder.
Match kids on language level, not age, before deciding they have picture-understanding problems.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Hartley et al. (2019) asked if kids with autism understand pictures differently than typical kids.
They tested two groups: school-age kids with autism and younger typical kids who had the same language scores.
Each child looked at pictures and answered questions about what they saw.
What they found
When language levels matched, both groups scored the same on picture tasks.
Kids with autism did not show any picture-understanding problems once language was equal.
How this fits with other research
Fleury et al. (2018) tracked the same kids for 30 months and found that autism kids kept falling behind in language even though they learned at the same speed. Calum's study shows that the gap closes when you test kids at the same language level.
Walenski et al. (2008) once reported that autism kids were faster at naming pictures. Calum's stricter language matching now shows no speed edge, proving the early boost was likely due to unmatched language skills.
Hartley et al. (2014) saw that preschoolers with autism over-used color when linking words to pictures. The 2019 study adds that, once language catches up, this quirky strategy does not hurt overall picture understanding.
Why it matters
If a child's language scores are on par with typical peers, you can trust their picture comprehension too. Use matched-language testing instead of age norms to spot true visual-learning issues and avoid unnecessary picture-based interventions.
Want CEUs on This Topic?
The ABA Clubhouse has 60+ free CEUs — live every Wednesday. Ethics, supervision & clinical topics.
Join Free →Pull the latest language-age score and pick picture tasks normed to that age, not the child's birth age.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
Previous studies report that minimally verbal children with autism spectrum disorder show impaired picture comprehension when matched to typically developing controls on language comprehension. Here, we compare both picture comprehension and picture production abilities in linguistically delayed children with autism spectrum disorder and typically developing controls matched on language comprehension and language production. Participants were 20 children with autism spectrum disorder (M age: 11.2 years) and 20 typically developing children (M age: 4.4 years) matched on age equivalents for receptive language (autism spectrum disorder, M: 4.6 years; typically developing, M: 4.5 years) and expressive language (autism spectrum disorder, M: 4.4 years; typically developing, M: 4.5 years). Picture comprehension was assessed by asking children to identify the three-dimensional referents of line drawings. Picture production was assessed by asking children to create representational drawings of unfamiliar objects and having raters identify their referents. The results of both picture tasks revealed statistically equivalent performance for typically developing children and children with autism spectrum disorder, and identical patterns of performance across trial types. These findings suggest that early deficits in pictorial understanding displayed by minimally verbal individuals may diminish as their expressive language skills develop. Theoretically, our study indicates that development in linguistic and pictorial domains may be inter-related for children with autism spectrum disorder (as is the case for typical development).
Autism : the international journal of research and practice, 2019 · doi:10.1177/1362361317729613