Multimodal Communication in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Different Linguistic Development.
Autistic kids aged 6-12 gesture just as much as peers during story tasks, so gesture is available for therapy targets.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Murillo et al. (2021) watched autistic and typical kids aged 6-12 tell a made-up story. The team counted every gesture the kids used while talking.
They compared gesture types and amounts between the two groups. The task was a simple story prompt, not a test of language skill.
What they found
Autistic kids produced the same number of gestures as their peers. They actually used more iconic gestures, the kind that show shape or action.
There was no overall gestural delay in the autism group. Kids pointed, showed size, and acted things out at typical rates.
How this fits with other research
So et al. (2015) saw the opposite: autistic children gestured less during free chat. The gap disappears when you switch to a clear story prompt, so task matters.
Ramos-Cabo et al. (2021) found fewer pointing gestures in toddlers with autism. Eva’s study shows that by school age, other gesture types have caught up.
Yang et al. (2025) showed that autistic kids can link gesture and speech if the gesture meaning is made obvious. A structured story task may supply that clarity.
Why it matters
Do not assume a lack of gestures means language trouble. When you give a clear, imaginative prompt, autistic students will show you their ideas with hands and words alike. Use story-building activities to sample natural communication and build on the iconic gestures they already produce.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: Gestures are spontaneous hand movements produced when speaking. Despite gestures being of communicative significance, little is known about the gestural production in spoken narratives in six- to 12-year-old children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). AIMS: The present study examined whether six- to 12-year-old children with ASD have a delay in gestural production in a spoken narrative task, in comparison to their typically-developing (TD) peers. METHODS AND PROCEDURES: Six- to-12-year-old children with ASD (N=14) and their age- and IQ-matched TD peers (N=12) narrated a story, which could elicit spontaneous speech and gestures. Their speech and gestures were then transcribed and coded. OUTCOMES AND RESULTS: Both groups of children had comparable expressive language skills. Children with ASD produced a similar number of pointing and marker gestures to TD children and significantly more iconic gestures in their spoken narratives. While children with ASD produced more reinforcing gestures than their TD counterparts, both groups of children produced comparable numbers of disambiguating and supplementary gestures. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that children with ASD may be as capable as TD children in gestural production when they engage in spoken narratives, which gives them spontaneity in producing gestures.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2021 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2017.11.004