Assessing pragmatic skills in pre-school children with autism spectrum disorder

Pragmatične zmožnosti predstavljajo otrokovo sposobnost primerne in učinkovite rabe jezika v socialnem kontekstu. Težave na tem področju lahko že zelo zgodaj kažejo na morebitno prisotnost določenih razvojnih motenj pri otrocih – najpogosteje avtističnih motenj, pri katerih je najbolj prizadet pragmatični vidik jezika. Tako bi se bilo pri zgodnji identifikaciji in intervenciji pri teh otrocih najbolj smiselno osredotočiti na ocenjevanje prav tega. V magistrski nalogi so bile preverjene pragmatične zmožnosti predšolskih otrok z avtistično motnjo in primerjane z zmožnostmi otrok s tipičnim razvojem. Raziskava je bila narejena na vzorcu 25 otrok iz različnih zdravstvenih in vzgojno-izobraževalnih ustanov po Sloveniji. Uporabljena je bila slovenska priredba vprašalnika Language Use Inventory avtorice D. O\u27Neill (Ocenjevanje pragmatičnega jezikovnega razvoja predšolskih otrokM. Ozbič, D. Kogovšek, J. Novšak Brce), ki so ga izpolnjevali starši otrok z avtistično motnjo. Dobljene rezultati so pokazali, da so pragmatične zmožnosti otrok z avtistično motnjo iz vzorca veliko slabše razvite v primerjavi z njihovimi vrstniki s tipičnim razvojem. Izkazalo se je, da razlika v razvitosti pragmatičnih zmožnosti med dečki in deklicami z avtistično motnjo ni statistično pomembna, je pa za rezultate statistično pomembna starost otrok, saj imajo starejši otroci z avtistično motnjo veliko bolje razvite pragmatične zmožnosti kot mlajši. Tudi glede na diagnozo otrok (sum na avtistično motnjo ali potrjena diagnoza) ni statistično pomembnih razlik v razvitosti pragmatičnih zmožnosti med skupinama, so pa slednje precej slabše razvite pri posameznikih, ki imajo pridružene dodatne motnje (MDR). Language Use Inventory se je tudi v okviru te raziskave izkazal kot zanesljiv in uporaben merski instrumentarij. S standardizacijo in oblikovanjem norm za slovensko populacijo otrok ima potencial, da postane eden ključnih za preverjanje pragmatičnih zmožnosti v okviru zgodnjega odkrivanja avtistične motnje pri otrocih.Pragmatic abilities represent a child\u27s ability to properly and effectively use language in a social context. Problems in this field can indicate the possible presence of certain developmental disorders in children at a very early stage. These are most often autistic spectrum disorders, where the pragmatic aspect of a language is most affected. Therefore, it would be best to concentrate on assessing these skills in the early identification and intervention of these children. This master\u27s thesis examines the pragmatic abilities of preschool children with autism spectrum disorder and compares them to the abilities of children with a typical development. The research was carried out on a sample of 25 children from different health and educational institutions across Slovenia. The Slovenian adaptation of the Language Use Inventory questionnaire (D. O\u27Neill) was used in this study (Ocenjevanje pragmatičnega jezikovnega razvoja predšolskih otrokadapted by M. Ozbič, D. Kogovšek and J. Novšak Brce). The participants of this questionnaire were parents of children with autistic spectrum disorders. The results show that the pragmatic abilities of the sample of children with autism spectrum disorder are less developed compared to their peers with a typical development. It has been shown that the difference in the development of pragmatic abilities among boys and girls with autism spectrum disorder is not statistically significant. On the other hand, the difference is statistically significant in relation to the age of children. Namely, older children with autism disorder have much better developed pragmatic abilities than the younger ones. Furthermore, there are also no statistically significant differences in the development of pragmatic abilities in the context of a child\u27s diagnosis (whether there is only a suspicion of autism spectrum disorder or a confirmed diagnosis), but they are much less developed in individuals with additional associated disorders (mental disorders). Within this study, the parent report The Language Use Inventory proved to be a reliable and useful measurement tool. By standardizing it and formulating norms for Slovenian children, the questionnaire has the potential to become one of the key pragmatic measures in the field of early detection of autistic spectrum disorders in children