Maternal Gesture Use and Language Development in Infant Siblings of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

AbstractParents play an essential role in supporting child development by providing a safe home, proper nutrition, and rich educational opportunities. In this article we focus on the role of caregiver speech in supporting development of young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We review studies from typically developing children and children with autism showing that rich and responsive caregiver speech supports language development. Autism intervention studies that target caregiver speech are reviewed as are recent scientific advances from studies of typical development. The strengths and weakness of different techniques for collecting language data from caregivers and children are reviewed, and natural language samples are recommended as best practice for language research in autism. We conclude that caregivers play a powerful role in shaping their children's development and encourage researchers to adapt parent-mediated intervention studies to acknowledge individual differences in parents by using a personalized medicine approach.

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Motor atypicalities in infancy are associated with general developmental level at 2 years, but not autistic symptoms

Autism ◽

10.1177/1362361320918745 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 24 (7) ◽

pp. 1650-1663 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Sheila Achermann ◽

Pär Nyström ◽

Sven Bölte ◽

Terje Falck-Ytter

Keyword(s):

Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽

Motion Capture ◽

Children With Autism ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Spectrum Disorder ◽

Developmental Level ◽

Infant Siblings ◽

Motor Functioning ◽

History Of ◽

Autistic Symptoms

Atypical motor development has frequently been reported in infants at elevated likelihood for autism spectrum disorder. However, no previous study has used detailed motion capture technology to compare infant siblings of children with autism spectrum disorder and infant siblings with no familial history of autism spectrum disorder. We investigated reaching movements during an interceptive action task in 10-month-old infants using kinematic data with high spatiotemporal resolution. The results indicated that several measures were different in infants at elevated likelihood. However, longitudinal analyses revealed that while specific infant motor measures (e.g. number of movement units) were related to broad measures of general developmental level in toddlerhood, the associations with later autism spectrum disorder symptomatology were not significant. These findings confirm that some aspects of motor functioning are atypical in infants at elevated likelihood for autism spectrum disorder, but provide no support for the view that these issues are specifically linked to autism spectrum disorder symptoms, but may rather reflect neurodevelopment more generally. Lay abstract Atypicalities in motor functioning are often observed in later born infant siblings of children with autism spectrum disorder. The goal of our study was to investigate motor functioning in infants with and without familial history of autism spectrum disorder. Specifically, we investigated how infants catch a ball that is rolling toward them following a non-straight path, a task that requires both efficient planning and execution. Their performance was measured using detailed three-dimensional motion capture technology. We found that several early motor functioning measures were different in infants with an older autistic sibling compared to controls. However, these early motor measures were not related to autistic symptoms at the age of 2 years. Instead, we found that some of the early motor measures were related to their subsequent non-social, general development. The findings of our study help us understand motor functioning early in life and how motor functioning is related to other aspects of development.

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Developmental sequelae and neurophysiologic substrates of sensory seeking in infant siblings of children with autism spectrum disorder

Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience ◽

10.1016/j.dcn.2017.08.005 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 29 ◽

pp. 41-53 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Cara R. Damiano-Goodwin ◽

Tiffany G. Woynaroski ◽

David M. Simon ◽

Lisa V. Ibañez ◽

Michael Murias ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽

Children With Autism ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Spectrum Disorder ◽

Infant Siblings

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Early social communication in infants with fragile X syndrome and infant siblings of children with autism spectrum disorder

Research in Developmental Disabilities ◽

10.1016/j.ridd.2017.10.004 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 71 ◽

pp. 169-180 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Laura J. Hahn ◽

Nancy C. Brady ◽

Lindsay McCary ◽

Lisa Rague ◽

Jane E. Roberts

Keyword(s):

Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽

Fragile X Syndrome ◽

Social Communication ◽

Fragile X ◽

Children With Autism ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Spectrum Disorder ◽

Infant Siblings

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Measuring early language development in preschool children with autism spectrum disorder using the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory (Infant Form)

Journal of Child Language ◽

10.1017/s0305000902005482 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 30 (1) ◽

pp. 213-236 ◽

Cited By ~ 201

Author(s):

TONY CHARMAN ◽

AURIOL DREW ◽

CLAIRE BAIRD ◽

GILLIAN BAIRD

Keyword(s):

Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽

Preschool Children ◽

Language Development ◽

Children With Autism ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Word Production ◽

Spectrum Disorder ◽

Word Comprehension ◽

Early Language Development ◽

Communicative Development

Parent report data on early language development measured using the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory (CDI–Infant Form) was collected on 134 preschool children with autism spectrum disorder. The pattern of development of understanding of phrases, word comprehension and expression, and production of gestures, was compared to the typical pattern. In common with typical development there was considerable variability in language acquisition, although for the group as a whole this was significantly delayed compared to the normal course. In addition, atypical patterns were identified in the emergence of language skills in the sample. Comprehension of words was delayed in comparison to word production, and production of early gestures (involving sharing reference) was delayed relative to production of later gestures (involving use of objects). However, other aspects of language development were similar to that found in typically developing infants, including word comprehension being in advance of word production in absolute terms, gesture production acting as a ‘bridge’ between word comprehension and word production and the broad pattern of acquisition across word categories and word forms. The implications for assessment and intervention with preschool children with autism spectrum disorder are discussed.

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