Comparative study of the imitation ability in Specific Language Impairment and Autism Spectrum Impairment

Abstract

Purpose: To compare abilities of imitating generic and sequential motion gesture schemes in family routines among children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Specific Language Impairment (SLI) and to analyze the relation between imitation index and verbal production in the ASD group. Methods: The sample was constituted by 2:1 pairing of 36 children, according to gender and age. All of them were diagnosed by a multidisciplinary team as belonging to the ASD group (n=24) or SLI group (n=12) and were under direct and indirect intervention in a school clinic. We have used the stage of imitation of the Assessment of Symbolic Maturity, which entails the imitation of nine generic and three sequential motion gesture schemes. Results: There was a tendency to a better performance of the SLI group at imitating both generic and sequential gesture schemes. As we have related the ability of imitation to the verbal production in the ASD group, a direct relation between the production of phrases and the imitation of sequential schemes was detected. Conclusion: The ability to imitate gesture and sequential schemes could be compared, and a more prominent impairment was identified in children with autism. Among them, a direct significant relationship between the ability of imitating sequential gesture schemes in family routine and verbal production of words and sentences was verified.