Abstract
This study examined narrative ability in ASD and parents across two contexts differing in structure and emotional content, and explored gaze patterns that may underlie narrative differences by presenting narrative tasks on an eye tracker. Participants included 37 individuals with ASD and 38 controls, 151 parents of individuals with ASD and 63 parent controls. The ASD and ASD parent groups demonstrated lower narrative quality than controls in the less structured narrative task only. Subtler, context-dependent differences emerged in gaze and showed some associations with narrative quality. Results indicate a narrative ability profile that may reflect genetic liability to ASD, and subtle links between visual attention and complex language skills that may be influenced by ASD genetic risk.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 2128-2141 |
Number of pages | 14 |
Journal | Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders |
Volume | 50 |
Issue number | 6 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jun 1 2020 |
Funding
This work was funded by Grants from the National Institutes of Health (R01DC010191-01A1, R01MH091131), the National Science Foundation (BCS-0820394) and P30 HD03110. We thank Jan Misenheimer, BS, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, for her work in management of the data. Sincerest thanks to all participating families.
Keywords
- Autism spectrum disorder
- Communication
- Eye gaze
- Language
- Narrative
- Visual attention
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Developmental and Educational Psychology