Descrizione del progetto
Rivisitazione l’ecolalia in soggetti con disturbo dello spettro autistico
L’ecolalia, ossia la ripetizione di suoni, parole o frasi, è comune durante lo sviluppo del linguaggio nei bambini e anche nelle persone con disturbo dello spettro autistico (ASD, autism spectrum disorder). Essa potrebbe essere più di un comportamento stereotipato senza senso e svolgere invece un ruolo nella comunicazione. Con il sostegno del programma di azioni Marie Skłodowska-Curie, il progetto ECHAUTISM studierà se l’ecolalia negli individui con ASD possa essere una forma tardiva di imitazione tipica del parlato e se possa funzionare come strategia per l’acquisizione del linguaggio. Il progetto valuterà anche le percezioni e le azioni dei prestatori di assistenza primari riguardo all’ecolalia nei bambini con ASD. Oltre agli studi comportamentali e linguistici, il progetto sfrutterà anche l’imaging cerebrale.
Obiettivo
ECHAUTISM, carried out jointly between CARE at Boston University and ACTE at the Universit libre de Bruxelles, aims at investigating the nature of echolalia in autism from a linguistic, behavioural and neural perspective. Echolalia, the exact repetition of the words of others, is a salient clinical feature of autism that is defined by some as a senseless stereotyped and repetitive behaviour and by others as a communicative unusual form of language. ECHAUTISM will ask three specific questions in regard to the nature of echolalia in autism. First, it will investigate whether autistic echolalia should be considered as a symptomatologic manifestation of repetitive behaviours or a late onset form of typical speech imitation. This will be answered by qualitatively and quantitatively describing and comparing the repetitive and the spontaneous speech production of a group of echolalic autistic preschoolers, a group of echolalic autistic adolescents and a group of 2- to 3-year-old typically developing children on measures of linguistic complexity, communicative behaviour, and brain activity. Second, it will ask whether echolalia can function, for some autistic children at least, as a gestalt strategy to language acquisition. This will be answered by evaluating the language abilities of the group of autistic preschoolers one year later to assess whether their speech became more functional and productive. Finally, it will provide an update on the perception of and actions taken towards echolalia by autistic childrens primary caregivers. This will be answered by disseminating a survey among speech-language pathologists specialised in autism and parents of autistic children. ECHAUTISM will have a significant impact on the researcher's career by internationalising her research profile and training her in cutting-edge neuroimaging techniques. Its outcomes should be relevant for both scientific and clinical perspectives of autism.
Parole chiave
Programma(i)
- HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Main Programme
Meccanismo di finanziamento
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-GF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global FellowshipsCoordinatore
1050 Bruxelles / Brussel
Belgio