Gesture Imitation Performance and Visual Exploration in Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder / Kenza LATRÈCHE in Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 56-2 (February 2026)  

Public ISBD [article]  inJournal of Autism and Developmental Disorders > 56-2 (February 2026) . - p.695-708 Titre : Gesture Imitation Performance and Visual Exploration in Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder Type de document : texte imprimé Auteurs : Kenza LATRÈCHE, Auteur ; Nada KOJOVIC, Auteur ; Irène PITTET, Auteur ; Shreyasvi NATRAJ, Auteur ; Martina FRANCHINI, Auteur ; Isabel M. SMITH, Auteur ; Marie SCHAER, Auteur Article en page(s) : p.695-708 Langues : Anglais (eng) Index. décimale : PER Périodiques Résumé : Most studies in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) support a decrement in imitation performance. Factors related to visual attention and motor execution have been proposed to explain this phenomenon in ASD. However, studies investigated imitation with various methods, leading to inconsistent findings. Here, we examine imitation performance related to visual attention and motor execution. We focused on the imitation of meaningful and meaningless gestures, consistently reported as more affected than imitation of actions with objects in ASD. The imitation eye-tracking task consisted of a video of an actor demonstrating gestures and prompting children to imitate them. The demonstrations comprised meaningful and meaningless hand gestures, and meaningless facial gestures. We measured the fixation duration to the actor’ face during child-directed speech and gesture demonstrations. We video-recorded children to assess their performance. Our sample comprised 100 participants (3.55 ± 1.11 years old), including 84 children with ASD. The ASD and typically developing groups displayed the same visual attention toward gesture demonstrations, although children with ASD spent less time looking at the face during facial stimuli. Visual exploration of actors’ gestures did not influence imitation performance. Imitation of meaningful gestures was associated with less severe autistic symptoms, whereas imitation of meaningless gestures was correlated with higher non-verbal cognitive and fine-motor skills. These findings contribute to a better understanding of the complexity of imitation. We delineated the distinct nature of imitation of meaningful and meaningless gestures in children with ASD. We discuss clinical implications in relation to assessment and intervention programs. En ligne : https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-024-06595-w Permalink : https://www.cra-rhone-alpes.org/cid/opac_css/index.php?lvl=notice_display&id=580 [article] Gesture Imitation Performance and Visual Exploration in Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder [texte imprimé] / Kenza LATRÈCHE, Auteur ; Nada KOJOVIC, Auteur ; Irène PITTET, Auteur ; Shreyasvi NATRAJ, Auteur ; Martina FRANCHINI, Auteur ; Isabel M. SMITH, Auteur ; Marie SCHAER, Auteur . - p.695-708. Langues : Anglais (eng) in Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders > 56-2 (February 2026) . - p.695-708 Index. décimale : PER Périodiques Résumé : Most studies in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) support a decrement in imitation performance. Factors related to visual attention and motor execution have been proposed to explain this phenomenon in ASD. However, studies investigated imitation with various methods, leading to inconsistent findings. Here, we examine imitation performance related to visual attention and motor execution. We focused on the imitation of meaningful and meaningless gestures, consistently reported as more affected than imitation of actions with objects in ASD. The imitation eye-tracking task consisted of a video of an actor demonstrating gestures and prompting children to imitate them. The demonstrations comprised meaningful and meaningless hand gestures, and meaningless facial gestures. We measured the fixation duration to the actor’ face during child-directed speech and gesture demonstrations. We video-recorded children to assess their performance. Our sample comprised 100 participants (3.55 ± 1.11 years old), including 84 children with ASD. The ASD and typically developing groups displayed the same visual attention toward gesture demonstrations, although children with ASD spent less time looking at the face during facial stimuli. Visual exploration of actors’ gestures did not influence imitation performance. Imitation of meaningful gestures was associated with less severe autistic symptoms, whereas imitation of meaningless gestures was correlated with higher non-verbal cognitive and fine-motor skills. These findings contribute to a better understanding of the complexity of imitation. We delineated the distinct nature of imitation of meaningful and meaningless gestures in children with ASD. We discuss clinical implications in relation to assessment and intervention programs. En ligne : https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-024-06595-w Permalink : https://www.cra-rhone-alpes.org/cid/opac_css/index.php?lvl=notice_display&id=580

Trajectories of imitation skills in preschoolers with autism spectrum disorders / Irène PITTET in Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders, 14 (2022)  

Public ISBD [article]  inJournal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders > 14 (2022) Titre : Trajectories of imitation skills in preschoolers with autism spectrum disorders Type de document : texte imprimé Auteurs : Irène PITTET, Auteur ; Nada KOJOVIC, Auteur ; Martina FRANCHINI, Auteur ; Marie SCHAER, Auteur Langues : Anglais (eng) Mots-clés : Autism Spectrum Disorder/psychology  Child, Preschool  Humans  Imitative Behavior  Language  Autism spectrum disorders  Developmental trajectories  Heterogeneity  Imitation  role in the design of the study  in the collection, analysis, or interpretation  of data  in the writing of the manuscript  or in the decision to publish the  results. Index. décimale : PER Périodiques Résumé : BACKGROUND: Imitation skills play a crucial role in social cognitive development from early childhood. Many studies have shown a deficit in imitation skills in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Little is known about the development of imitation behaviors in children with ASD. This study aims to measure the trajectories of early imitation skills in preschoolers with ASD and how these skills impact other areas of early development. METHODS: For this purpose, we assessed imitation, language, and cognition skills in 177 children with ASD and 43 typically developing children (TD) aged 2 to 5 years old, 126 of which were followed longitudinally, yielding a total of 396 time points. RESULTS: Our results confirmed the presence of an early imitation deficit in toddlers with ASD compared to TD children. The study of the trajectories showed that these difficulties were marked at the age of 2 years and gradually decreased until the age of 5 years old. Imitation skills were strongly linked with cognitive and language skills and level of symptoms in our ASD group at baseline. Moreover, the imitation skills at baseline were predictive of the language gains a year later in our ASD group. Using a data-driven clustering method, we delineated different developmental trajectories of imitation skills within the ASD group. CONCLUSIONS: The clinical implications of the findings are discussed, particularly the impact of an early imitation deficit on other areas of competence of the young child. En ligne : https://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s11689-021-09412-y Permalink : https://www.cra-rhone-alpes.org/cid/opac_css/index.php?lvl=notice_display&id=574 [article] Trajectories of imitation skills in preschoolers with autism spectrum disorders [texte imprimé] / Irène PITTET, Auteur ; Nada KOJOVIC, Auteur ; Martina FRANCHINI, Auteur ; Marie SCHAER, Auteur. Langues : Anglais (eng) in Journal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders > 14 (2022) Mots-clés : Autism Spectrum Disorder/psychology  Child, Preschool  Humans  Imitative Behavior  Language  Autism spectrum disorders  Developmental trajectories  Heterogeneity  Imitation  role in the design of the study  in the collection, analysis, or interpretation  of data  in the writing of the manuscript  or in the decision to publish the  results. Index. décimale : PER Périodiques Résumé : BACKGROUND: Imitation skills play a crucial role in social cognitive development from early childhood. Many studies have shown a deficit in imitation skills in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Little is known about the development of imitation behaviors in children with ASD. This study aims to measure the trajectories of early imitation skills in preschoolers with ASD and how these skills impact other areas of early development. METHODS: For this purpose, we assessed imitation, language, and cognition skills in 177 children with ASD and 43 typically developing children (TD) aged 2 to 5 years old, 126 of which were followed longitudinally, yielding a total of 396 time points. RESULTS: Our results confirmed the presence of an early imitation deficit in toddlers with ASD compared to TD children. The study of the trajectories showed that these difficulties were marked at the age of 2 years and gradually decreased until the age of 5 years old. Imitation skills were strongly linked with cognitive and language skills and level of symptoms in our ASD group at baseline. Moreover, the imitation skills at baseline were predictive of the language gains a year later in our ASD group. Using a data-driven clustering method, we delineated different developmental trajectories of imitation skills within the ASD group. CONCLUSIONS: The clinical implications of the findings are discussed, particularly the impact of an early imitation deficit on other areas of competence of the young child. En ligne : https://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s11689-021-09412-y Permalink : https://www.cra-rhone-alpes.org/cid/opac_css/index.php?lvl=notice_display&id=574

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