Narrative Abilities of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

The present study compared the Fictional Narrative abilities of 26 children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) with the abilities of 32 typical children. Participants (ages 7 -19 years) were asked to narrate a story while looking at the images in a wordless picture book. Group differences were detected in children's use of "settings" and "endings" as story structure components. Children with ASD were less likely than normal children to identify the causes of a character's mental state and emotions. In addition, it was more difficult for ASD children to construct a story from the character's point of view. In contrast to findings from previous studies, there were no significant group differences in the use of referential devices, and gaze behavior at the listener was observed here in many ASD children in elementary school. Additional research is needed to determine how ASD children regulate and adjust their narratives according to the status and knowledge of the listener. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]