Expressive and receptive fast-mapping in children with autism spectrum disorders and typical development: The influence of orienting cues

Typically developing toddlers accurately follow an adult's gaze learn object labels. However, children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) mis-map new words to their own focus of attention. Children with ASD and typical development participated in three word learning conditions. In the follow-in condition, the adult labeled an object which was the focus of the child's attention. In the redirecting condition, the adult labeled an object which was the focus of their own attention. In the orienting cue condition, the adult used a verbal cue to attract the child's attention, then labeled an object which was the focus of their own attention. Typically developing children learned receptive labels in all conditions. Children with ASD mis-mapped words to their own focus of attention during redirecting trials, but showed a trend toward correct receptive mapping during orienting cue trials. During expressive trials, both groups were most likely to map successfully during follow-in trials and least likely to map successfully during redirecting trials. Using a verbal orienting cue may help children with ASD learn new words. Following a child's focus of attention may confer vocabulary learning benefits for both children with ASD and children with typical development during expressive vocabulary learning tasks.