ERIC Number: EJ787421
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2008-Mar
Pages: 5
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0162-3257
EISSN: N/A
Brief Report: Imitation of Meaningless Gestures in Individuals with Asperger Syndrome and High-Functioning Autism
Stieglitz Ham, Heidi; Corley, Martin; Rajendran, Gnanathusharan; Carletta, Jean; Swanson, Sara
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, v38 n3 p569-573 Mar 2008
Nineteen people with Asperger syndrome (AS)/High-Functioning Autism (HFA) (ages 7-15) were tested on imitation of two types of meaningless gesture: hand postures and finger positions. The individuals with AS/HFA achieved lower scores in the imitation of both hand and finger positions relative to a matched neurotypical group. The between-group difference was primarily accounted for by performance on a test of visual motor integration, together with a hand imitation deficit which was specifically due to errors in body part orientation. Our findings implicate both visuomotor processes (Damasio and Maurer, 1978) and self-other mapping (Rogers and Pennington, 1991) in ASD imitation deficits. Following Goldenberg (1999), we propose that difficulties with body part orientation may underlie problems in meaningless gesture imitation.
Descriptors: Autism, Asperger Syndrome, Imitation, Nonverbal Communication, Comparative Analysis, Neurological Impairments, Sensory Integration, Visual Stimuli
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A