Research On Semantic Comprehension And Expression Of Properties Of Typically Developing And Autistic Children

Research on semantic development is an important field of language researches, as well as an essential part of children’s language development theories. Most of the researches today are on the basis of the conclusions from other languages. Research on the semantic development of autistic children is still in its beginning stages. Many conclusions come from the case study or discussed as a part of language developments. The research methods and achievements still need to be explored.Based on the studies about the lexical semantic development of typically developing children (TD) and autistic children (AC) at home and abroad, we focused on three kinds of object properties to learn about the development of semantic comprehension and expression of TD and AC:functions, features and classes (FFC). With the self- compiled materials, we aim to rich the semantic development theories and find a new method to explore the lexical semantic comprehension and expression of properties of TD and AC. Besides, based on the comparative studies between TD and AC, we have provided targeted intervention curriculums for children with autism.The results show that:1. Comprehension for functions and classes of TD mainly is developed before the age of five. Expression ability keeps proving from age three to six.2. Autistic children can understand some lexical semantics:functions (37.94%), features(35.19%)、classes (29.00%)3. Autistic children have poor expression:functions (5.89%), features(6.88%)、 classes (5.72%)4. The development of semantic comprehension of AC has a significant negative correlation with the severity of autism while the expression hasn’t. The development of semantic comprehension and expression is not synchronous.