Havrylova N., Konstantyniv O., Havrylov O. - Diagnostics of the level of the communication skill development in children with autism spectrum disorders

Contact: Natalia Havrylova, PhD, Kamianets-Podilsky Ivan Ohienko National University.; Oksana Konstantyniv, PhD, Kamianets-Podilsky Ivan Ohienko National University.; Oleksiy Havrylov, PhD, Kamianets-Podilsky Ivan Ohienko National University.

According to the World Health Organization, autism spectrum disorders occur in one in 160 children. According to some other studies, every 88th child has autism. The clinical manifestations of autism spectrum disorders are multifaceted, do not have permanent key symptoms, each child's complex of symptoms is formed under the influence of the degree of impairment and the environment. However, a common symptom is a violation of speech development. The article analyzes research on the peculiarities of speech development in  children with autism spectrum disorder: late onset of development, fragmentation, and disproportion, which is manifested on both nonverbal and verbal levels. Based on the analysis of scientific research, we developed a method for diagnosing communication skills in children with autism spectrum disorders. We also determined diagnostic indicators of communication skills in children with autism spectrum disorders: the presence of expressive and facial movements that determine their willingness to establish contact with others; understanding gestures necessary for the formation of self-care skills and personal needs and applying them in communication; understanding and application of words that denote the names of objects of the environment and determine the range of their interests; understanding and presence in the speech of words denoting actions necessary for situational interaction with others. The author's method of studying the speech of children with autism spectrum disorders includes six parameters with content, which takes into account the peculiarities of communicative activity in children under 2 years with normative development. These are a diagnostic  procedure, a scale for assessing the state of formation taking into account the semantic components that develop in children under 2 years, and a score taking into account the types of communication that should be formed at an early age.
The initial testing of communication skills was conducted with the participation of 64 children, of whom 38 children were with normative development and 26 – with autism spectrum disorders (data on autism spectrum disorders were obtained from clinical studies).

Key words: autism spectrum disorders, speech, communicative activity.