Acarlar, FundaTöret, Gökhan2022-04-082022-04-082010http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12575/78492The purpose of this study was to examine and compare the use ofgestures in prelinguistic children with autism, Down's syndrome and typicallydeveloping children.Parent-child and researcher-child interactions were video-recorded in thisdescriptive study. Gestures were examined in three functional categories:behavior regulation, social interaction and joint attention. Researchquestions attempt to determine the distribution of gestures in each group anddifferences between groups.Ten children with Down syndrome and ten children with autism agedbetween 24-60 months and ten typically developing children aged between12-18 months were participated in this study. Analyses of gestures was doneby video-recordings. Parent-child interaction was recorded in free-playcontext with standard materials. Seven tasks have been developed forresearcher-child interaction to ensure the use of gestures. Tasks wereapplied at children?s school. Frequency and type of gestures for each childwere defined and then marked to the observation form.First the means, standard deviations and minimum-maximum scoreswere calculated for gestures. ANOVA was used to determine the differencesfor using gestures between the groups.Results revealed significant differences for gestures within the categoryof behavior regulation between the groups. The typically developing childrenused gestures more frequently than other groups. The lowest frequency ofgesture use have been found for children with autism . It was found thatchildren with autism have more difficulties in gesture use within the categoryof Social interaction and joint attention thanDown syndrome and typicallydeveloping groups. Children with Down syndrome have become moresuccessful in the use of these gestures than other two groups. It was foundthat researcher-child interaction provides more information about thefrequency of gestures than parent-child interaction.This study supports the findings in the literature. Similar results arefound in this study where individuals with autism have difficulties in usinggestures. Individuals with Down syndrome have a strength in that area.Results of this study have provided useful information for assessment andeducation of communication skills of prelinguistic children with Downsyndrome and autism.Keywords: Prelinguistic communication , gesture development, autism,down syndrome, joint attention, social interaction.trOtizmdown sendromluOkul öncesi çocuklarJestmasterThesis