Characteristics of Language Behavior and Speech Activity in Children with Autistic Disorders: Theoretical Aspect

Speech development of a child with autism does not always take place at the appropriate age and does not always obey the laws of development of speech functions. According to the analysis of literature sources, the direct study of speech activity of children with autistic disorders requires a more detailed study. According to our predictions, a child with autistic disorders of older preschool age due to the peculiarities of communicative and behavioral spheres will show a low level of speech activity, which can be explained directly by the specificity of speech development along with limited language experience and insufficient knowledge of language and its use in communication. Language behavior consists of two complementary and interrelated processes: psychological formation (generation) of speech utterance and perception of the expanded speech of the interlocutor. The model of speech utterance generation includes five consecutive, interconnected stages (phases) identified by O.O. Leontiev (1967): the motive of utterance; the idea of expression; internal programming; lexical and grammatical development of the utterance; implementation of speech expression in external speech. Speech activity is one of the many forms of general activity, a reflection of the needs that arise in accordance with specific communication situations, a prerequisite and an important component of language behavior. The term "speech activity" is considered by us in the sense of the presence of a motive for speech utterance and direct speech utterance, which may occur as a reaction-response to the interlocutor's remark or as a desire to inform the interlocutor of their own thoughts, experiences, emotions, needs.