探討自閉症兒童 中文書寫易讀性與國字處理能力

Abstract

前言 書寫是日常生活中一項基礎且重要的任務，特別是對於學齡兒童而言，然而罹患自閉症譜系障礙的孩童卻經常面臨書寫困難。其非典型的知覺處理模式，也被稱作中心聚合缺陷，可能對自閉症兒童的書寫易讀性表現產生更大的挑戰。不過，目前研究少有針對自閉症兒童中文易讀性的探討，也較缺乏考量中心聚合缺陷對其國字處理能力之影響。因此，本研究之研究問題如下：(1) 探討自閉症兒童與典型發展兒童之中文書寫易讀性差異， (2) 釐清自閉症與典型發展兒童對於國字處理模式的不同，(3) 了解自閉症兒童的書寫易讀性與國字處理能力間之相關性。

方法 本研究招募就讀小學一或二年級 30 名患有自閉症的兒童及 30 名典型發展兒童。受試者之書寫易讀性進行兩個面向的評估，包含字內及字間易讀性。此外，中心聚合缺陷對國字處理的影響透過國字處理測驗評量。資料分析使用 SPSS 22 進行，統計顯著性設定為 ɑ < 0.05。統計方法上，本研究使用獨立 t 檢定，比較自閉症組與典型發展組之間的易讀性差異。另外，透過重複測量二因子變異數分析，確認國字處理測驗中，受試者組間及國字熟悉度之交互作用。最後，本研究透過皮爾森相關性檢定，探討自閉症兒童的書寫易讀性和國字處理之中心聚合缺陷間的關係。

結果 自閉症兒童在中文書寫易讀性的部件比例和部件位置（p = 0.040與0.028），比典型發展兒童表現更差。當處理熟悉字時，自閉症與典型發展組間有相似的表現（p = 0.324），而自閉症兒童處理不熟悉的字時，表現出明顯聚焦於局部的模式（p = 0.004）。然而，本研究未發現自閉症兒童之中心聚合缺陷與其中文書寫易讀性之間的相關性。

討論 研究結果顯示，自閉症兒童在中文書寫的易讀性較差，特別是在字內部的部件結構方面。在處理不熟悉的字時，自閉症兒童會受到中心聚合缺陷的影響，但處理熟悉的字時，能夠與典型發展兒童呈現相似的處理模式，這突顯了熟悉程度，對於自閉症兒童視覺處理整體化的重要性。然而，本研究未能確定中心聚合缺陷與自閉症兒童書寫易讀性間的相關性，這項結果可能是由於未評估不熟悉字的易讀性所致。建議未來研究考量不熟悉字的易讀性評估，以更完整地了解中心聚合缺陷與自閉症兒童書寫易讀性的關係。

Background Handwriting is a foundational and crucial task for school-aged children, but it often presents challenges for those with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). An atypical processing pattern identified as weak central coherence (WCC) potentially affects the legibility of handwriting. However, there is a lack of research focusing on the legibility of Chinese for children with ASD and the phenomena of WCC in processing Chinese characters. Thus, this research involves three specific objectives: (1) examining the difference in Chinese handwriting legibility between children with ASD and typical developing (TD), (2) investigating the phenomenon of WCC in the processing of recognizing Chinese characters and further exploring the interaction between groups and character familiarity, and (3) examining the relationship between handwriting legibility and WCC in children with ASD.

Methods This study included 30 children with ASD and 30 TD children from first or second grade elementary school classes. Chinese handwriting legibility was evaluated including intra-character legibility and inter-character legibility. The Character Processing Test measured WCC effects on character recognition. Data were analyzed using SPSS 22, with statistical significance set at α < 0.05. The independent t-test compared handwriting legibility between ASD and TD groups. Two-way repeated measures ANOVA analyzed group interactions with character familiarity. Pearson correlation examined relationships between handwriting legibility and WCC in children with ASD.

Results The results of this study indicated significantly poorer Chinese handwriting legibility in children with ASD compared to TD children, particularly in intra-character radical proportion and spacing (p = 0.040 and 0.028). Children with ASD exhibited a local-focused processing pattern when handling unfamiliar characters (p = 0.004), while processing of familiar characters did not significantly differ between ASD and TD groups (p = 0.324). However, no significant correlation was observed between WCC and handwriting legibility in children with ASD.

Discussion This study reveals that children with ASD exhibit poorer legibility in Chinese handwriting, particularly in intra-character radical aspects. Processing patterns for familiar characters show similarities between ASD and TD groups. In contrast, character processing in ASD is influenced by WCC, particularly evident during the processing of unfamiliar characters, highlighting the role of familiarity in facilitating holistic visual processing among children with ASD. However, the study did not establish a clear correlation between WCC and handwriting legibility in children with ASD, potentially due to the study's focus on familiar characters and the absence of assessment regarding unfamiliar characters. Future research should include assessments of unfamiliar characters to better understand the relationship between WCC and handwriting legibility in children with ASD.