Objects as Communicative Mediators in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

In recent years, the socio-material perspective has informed an importantinterdisciplinary debate concerning the role of the physical world (i.e., the objects)in human psychological development. Several studies in the field of developmentalpsychology showed positive achievements in explaining the relationship between thesubject and the social context through a socio-material approach, in particular in theearly development. The importance of objects was also recognized in children withautism spectrum disorder (ASD), showing that these children are characterized byalterations in the use of the objects from early development. Some studies highlightedthat objects could be a facilitator in the interactions between children with ASD andpeers. However, the role of objects was not sufficiently investigated in interactionsbetween children with ASD and adults. The main purpose of the present study wasto investigate in children with ASD the communicative function that the activities withobjects assume in the interactions with adults, highlighting the mediator role of objectsin these interactions. More generally, this study also aims to highlight the relevanceof adopting a socio-material perspective to explore some neglected aspects of thepsychological activity of children with ASD. To test this hypothesis, we conducted anextensive exploratory study, collecting data from a sample of 3-year-old (N = 18; F = 3)and 4-year-old (N = 26; F = 3) with ASD. Children were observed in a free-play situationwith an adult. They were free to choose an object from a predefined set. Throughquantitative data, we have described the general characteristics of the manipulationof objects; through qualitative data, we aimed to capture and describe, in microgeneticsequences, some characteristics of children’s activities, defined as socio-material. Theanalysis of the socio-material activities suggested the role of objects as mediator of theinteractions between children with ASD and adults.