A Contrastive Study On Topic Maintenance And Shift Between Chinese High-functioning Children With ASD And Children With Typical Development

Difficulties with topic management have been widely reported in individuals with autism spectrum disorders（ASD）;yet,due to the heterogeneous profile of autistic symptoms,together with the aggregation of topic management data with those of other conversational behaviors,results of previous studies remain inconsistent,and are somewhat fragmentary.The current study targets only topic maintenance and shift.I conducted comparative analyses of semi-structured,adultelicited conversations in Chinese children with high-functioning autism（HFA;n =18）versus those with typical development（TD,n = 18）.The conversations were videotaped and transcribed,and then were segmented into topic units.Each unit was identified with one independent topic label.The continuity and the quality of each topic unit were coded for analysis,including their relations to turn type（obligatory or not）.Problems of unresponsiveness and topic preoccupation were also addressed.The results showed that both groups produced an overwhelming majority of topic maintenance units,of which adequate maintenance made up the largest proportion,followed by elaborate and inadequate maintenance.Of all the inadequate maintenance units,five sub-categories were identified: underformative response,repetition of question,wrong answer,repetition of response,and ignorance of request for more information.Since the conversations were always adult-elicited,children in both groups hardly initiated topic shift.Much more attention was paid to the between-group differences.In nonobligatory context,the HFA group compared favorably with the TD group.In obligatory context,the former was able to provide contingent responses by identifying the “question of immediate concern”,but they did display difficulties with information management.On one hand,they produced significantly more underinformative responses,and were more likely to repeat their responses to avoid adding new information.On the other hand,they were less able to respond to simple questions with increasing complexity.To be specific,they gave less comments,descriptions,or elaborations related to their own experiences.These difficulties were assumed to be related to deficits in applied Theory of Mind and cognitive flexibility.Data on delayed or no response revealed no significant difference.A tendency for unresponsiveness was always accompanied with a latency of turn-taking,but both were independent of the presence of autism.The same held true for topic preoccupation,which was hardly observed in both groups.As regards topic shift,a significant difference was found in non-contingent topic shading,but it was problematic to the TD group.This study presents a general topic maintenance/shift profile of children with HFA.The findings are conducive for the design of localized intervention programs to promote mutual understandings and help them integrate into society.