輕症自閉症兒童故事重述能力之研究

Story-retelling Ability of Children with Mild Autism Spectrum Disorder

本研究主要目的在探討國小不同年齡輕症自閉症兒童與一般兒童故事重述能力的差異情形，及其故事重述能力與心智理論能力的關係。研究者首先透過魏氏兒童智力量表控制語文理解因素指數後，立意取樣一般兒童及輕症自閉症兒童各47 名，合計94 名參與本研究。透過真人影片誘發蒐集兩組兒童376 則故事重述語料，並評量其心智理論能力。語料資料以CHILDES 進行編碼和轉檔，並對兩組兒童的故事長度、故事要素、故事結構及相關重要因素進行比較分析。研究結果：一、兩組兒童的故事長度不論是全組或不同年齡層均無顯著差異。二、輕症自閉症兒童整體故事重述內容品質較一般兒童低落。進一步分析，一般兒童隨著年齡的發展，故事要素的描述會愈來愈完整，但輕症自閉症兒童隨著年齡的增加，描述故事主角的情緒或內在反應並未如一般兒童隨之進步。三、輕症自閉症兒童的故事結構類型並未如一般兒童，隨著年齡的發展，增加完整情節類型的故事結構比例。四、輕症自閉症兒童的故事長度和心智理論能力有顯著正相關，故事內容則和心智理論能力及生理年齡有顯著正相關。研究結論：輕症自閉症兒童隨著年齡的增加，描述故事主角的情緒和內在反應的能力較一般兒童有明顯低落情形。因此，導致其故事結構完整性的發展較一般兒童有遲緩現象。另一方面，輕症自閉症兒童心智理論能力愈好者，其述說的故事長度愈長，故事內容品質也愈佳。

Purpose: This study investigated (1) the differences in story-retelling ability between typically developing elementary-school-age children and children with mild autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and (2) the relationship between the theory-of-mind ability and story-retelling ability of children with mild ASD. Methods: Forty-seven pairs of children with mild ASD and typically developing children of the same grades matched using the Verbal Comprehension Index were recruited. Informed consent forms were collected from all parents of the participants. The data included 376 story-retelling narratives induced through film-watching and were analyzed by using the Child Language Data Exchange System. Results/Findings: (1) No significant difference in the length of the stories told was observed between the ASD and control groups among the 8-, 10-, and 12- year-old participants. (2) Regarding story elements, the quality of the story-retelling by the participants with mild ASD was significantly lower than that of their typically developing peers. The 8-year-old participants with ASD did not perform as highly as their typically developing peers did in story-retelling regarding obvious visual clues including setting, event initiation, and consequences. Furthermore, the 10- and 12-year-old participants with ASD did not perform as well as their typically developing peers did in their attempts and internal responses. Regarding descriptions of story characters’ emotions and internal responses, the quality of typically developing participants’ performance increased gradually with age, but this increase in quality was not observed among those with mild ASD. (3) Regarding story structure, the proportion of narrative structures based on complete episodes used by typically developing participants increased with age, but this result was not observed among those with mild ASD. (4) The length of stories told by those with mild ASD significantly correlated with their theory-of-mind ability, and the content of their stories was significantly related to their theoryof- mind and chronological age. Conclusions/Implications: (1) The quality of the storyretelling content of the participants with mild ASD was significantly lower than that of their typically developing peers. However, no significant difference in story length was observed between the participants with mild ASD and their typically developing peers. (2) With age, the story-describing ability, including descriptions of story characters’ emotions and internal responses, of the participants with mild ASD was significantly lower than that of their typically developing peers. (3) The development of story structure in the participants with mild ASD was delayed compared with that in the typically developing participants. The participants with mild ASD had a higher proportion of incomplete episodes, and the proportion of complete episodes did not increase with age as it did in the control group. (4) The theory-of-mind ability of the participants with mild ASD was significantly inferior to that of their typically developed peers. In the ASD group, children with superior theory-of-mind ability had longer story lengths and more mature story content.