Limitations and transformations of habitus in Child-Directed Communication
- 1 October 2005
- journal article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Discourse Studies
- Vol. 7 (4-5), 547-583
- https://doi.org/10.1177/1461445605054406
Abstract
This article offers an alternative approach to paradigms that cast culture solely as a nurturing influence on children's language development. It proposes a dimensional model of Child-Directed Communication (CDC) to delineate ways in which a community's habitus may impede the communicative potential of children with neuro-developmental conditions such as severe autism. It argues that certain features of Euro-American CDC are illadapted for autistic children. Due to inertia, caregivers often find themselves unable to transcend the limitations of CDC habitus. Yet, occasionally, a transformation in CDC emerges that more effectively engages children with impairments. The article analyzes one such transformation forged in the niche of a unique mother–son relationship in India and then introduced in the USA.Keywords
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