During the first few years of life, a child’s vocabulary is increasing at different rates throughout. The rate at which children’s vocabulary and comprehension grow appear to be a clear indicator of school success. Studies have shown that children’s early gesture use later relate to language learning in the early years of a child’s life, with results showing that an increase in child gesture has a positive effect on the number of different words children use in spontaneous interactions with their caregivers (LeBarton et al., 2015). Studies have also shown that girls learn vocabulary quicker than boys, until about fourth grade, relating back to gesture use being active more in girls playing with dolls. With this solid, baseline of information, further questions arise such as gesture in abused kids, or gesture in developmentally slow kids, or with language playing a large role, gesture exposure in children on the autism spectrum.

Autism is characterized by a child’s lack of ability or difficulty to communicate, interact and form relationships with others. The term Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) infers that there is a wide range of symptoms, skills and levels of this disability. Symptoms, which include impairments in language development and communications, can be evident as early as within the first year of a child’s life. Within this first year, when children have not begun speaking yet, it is very important for parents to speak around and directly to their child, for the child to hear, take in, and learn on their own until they are ready to produce language themselves. Gesture as well is included in the language experience here, where playing with the children, pointing, and using hand vocabulary plays a major role.

Authors Talbott, Nelson, and Tager-Flusberg decided to explore maternal gesture use and children who are at risk for autism at 12 months and associate with the language of the in fact at 18 months. From testing both a parent-infant perspective as well as an infant-self perspective, it was found that mothers of non-diagnosed infants gestured more than mothers of low risk infants, and it was found at 18 months that language was strongly associated with the use of gestures used. These results demonstrate what a strong impact gestures have on developmental impact and social behaviors.

This information is not nearly enough to say that gesture use and language experience is the only factor associated with signs of ASD, however, it shows how important it is to socialize with your child starting at such a young age. We see this further research could extend on a much longer time-line, studying into a child’s elder years and being able to define which end of the spectrum a child may lay on, as well as experiments, which work to improve gesture experience with those infants already showing symptoms.

Sources

E.S., Goldin-Meadow, S., & Raudenbush, S. (2015). Experimentally induced increases in early gesture lead to increases in spoken vocabulary. Journal of Cognition and Development, 16, 199–220.

LeBarton,E.S., Goldin-Meadow, S., & Raudenbush, S. (2015). Experimentally induced increases in early gesture lead to increases in spoken vocabulary. Journal of Cognition and Development, 16, 199–220.

760. & Goldin-Meadow, S. (2010). Sex differences in language appear in gesture. Developmental Science, 13, 752–760.