Task-related differences in the gesture production of young autistic children.

What is already known on the subject Because of the importance of gesture in early communication for autistic and typically developing children, various tasks have been used to assess it. However, little is known about whether tasks differentially elicit type or rate of gesture for young autistic children from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds. What this paper adds to existing knowledge Elicitation tasks differentially elicit type and rate of gesture for young autistic children in the early stages of gesture. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work? We recommend a structured task designed to elicit child requests to assess the developmental sophistication of a child's gesture repertoire.