Unit:
Κατεύθυνση Λογοθεραπεία - ΣυμβουλευτικήLibrary of the School of Education
Author:
Paschopoulou Aikaterini
Supervisors info:
Μαγουλά Ευγενία, Αναπληρώτρια Καθηγήτρια Παιδαγωγικού Τμήματος Δημοτικής Εκπαίδευσης, Εθνικού και Καποδιστριακού Πανεπιστημίου Αθηνών
Αντωνίου Αλέξανδρος-Σταμάτιος, Αναπληρωτής Καθηγητής Παιδαγωγικού Τμήματος Δημοτικής Εκπαίδευσης, Εθνικού και Καποδιστριακού Πανεπιστημίου Αθηνών
Γαλανάκη Ευαγγελία, Καθηγήτρια Παιδαγωγικού Τμήματος Δημοτικής Εκπαίδευσης, Εθνικού και Καποδιστριακού Πανεπιστημίου Αθηνών
Original Title:
Πραγματολογικές Δεξιότητες σε Παιδιά με ΔΑΦ. Η Χρήση Οπτικού Υλικού για την Κατανόηση των Παρομοιώσεων.
Translated title:
Pragmatic Abilities in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. The use of visual material for the comprehension of similes.
Summary:
Pragmatics as a branch of linguistics, studies the way in which humans develop as social beings. In particular, pragmatic competence is a person’s ability to understand the correct meaning of the spoken words of others, whether it is literal or figurative, and the formation of thought and language in the individual for the purpose of realizing the communication. The evaluation of pragmatic competence skills gives important information to the diagnostic process, and for this reason it is widely used for the differential diagnosis of pervasive developmental disorders in relation to other developmental disorders.
The purpose of this research is the understanding of similes by students with High-Functioning Autism (HFA), using specially designed visual material in the form of Power Point slides. The visual material was administered to a limited sample of children (N = 10) aged 7-9 years; the survey lasted three (3) months and was not based on a weighted test.
The results highlighted the difficulty of children with high-functioning ASD in the pragmatic competence area. It was found, however, that the application of enhanced educational programs, aiming at the development of their visual and acoustic perception, their social skills and the use of their cognitive functions, contributed to the research process. The use of visual material, in the form of the presentation of data on a computer, by ensuring the active participation of pupils, assisted in their easier understanding of similes, which require specific thought (concepts of nouns and adjectives familiar to them) and not the similes that require abstract thinking.
To conclude, the need for systematic study and research on autism deems appropriate, in relation to children’s pragmatic competence, so that these skills are detected in time and evaluated on the basis of more parameters.
Main subject category:
Special education
Keywords:
Key words: language, Autism Spectrum Disorders, DSM-V, high function autism, communication disorders, pragmatics, pragmatic abilities in autism, figurative language, simile, adjectives
