Speech Abilities in a Heterogeneous Group of Children With Autism

Purpose This study aimed to provide detailed descriptive information about the speech of a heterogeneous cohort of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and to explore whether subgroups exist based on this detailed speech data. High rates of delayed and disordered speech in both low-verbal and high-functioning children with ASD have been reported. There is limited information regarding the speech abilities of young children across a range of functional levels. Method Participants were 23 children aged 2;0–6;11 (years;months) with a diagnosis of ASD. Comprehensive speech and language assessments were administered. Independent and relational speech analyses were conducted from single-word naming tasks and spontaneous speech samples. Hierarchical clustering based on language, nonverbal communication, and spontaneous speech descriptive data was completed. Results Independent and relational speech analyses are reported. These variables are used in the cluster analyses, which identified three distinct subgroups: (a) children with high language and high speech ability ( n = 10), (b) children with low expressive language and low speech ability but higher receptive language and use of gestures ( n = 3), and (c) children with low language and low speech development ( n = 10). Conclusions This is the first study to provide detailed descriptive speech data of a heterogeneous cohort of children with ASD and use this information to statistically explore potential subgroups. Clustering suggests a small number of children present with low levels of speech and expressive language in the presence of better receptive language and gestures. This communication profile warrants further exploration. Replicating these findings with a larger cohort of children is needed. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.16906978

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Similarities in Functional Play and Differences in Symbolic Play of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

American Journal on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities ◽

10.1352/1944-7558-124.1.77 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 124 (1) ◽

pp. 77-91 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Kathy Thiemann-Bourque ◽

Lynette K. Johnson ◽

Nancy C. Brady

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Skills ◽

Children With Autism ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Symbolic Play ◽

Typically Developing ◽

Play Skills ◽

Functional Play ◽

Number Of Children ◽

Children With Asd ◽

Spectrum Disorders

Abstract Contradictory reports of play strengths and weaknesses for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) persist in the literature. We compared the play of 19 children with ASD to 19 typically developing (TD) children matched on language and cognitive skills. All children were verbal. Results revealed no differences in indiscriminate actions, functional play, and object interest. The children with ASD showed less symbolic play and a significantly fewer number of children met criteria for emerging or mastered symbolic play. A specific deficit was observed for “doll as agent” symbolic play. Outcomes suggest that compared to children without disabilities, children with ASD may have comparable functional play skills and struggle with the transition to some, but not all types of symbolic play.

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Exploring the Participation Patterns and Impact of Environment in Preschool Children with ASD

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph17165677 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 17 (16) ◽

pp. 5677

Author(s):

Ghaidaa Khalifa ◽

Peter Rosenbaum ◽

Kathy Georgiades ◽

Eric Duku ◽

Briano Di Rezze

Keyword(s):

Preschool Children ◽

Social Communication ◽

Positive Association ◽

Children With Autism ◽

Well Being ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Limited Information ◽

Everyday Activities ◽

Children With Asd ◽

At Home

Participation in everyday activities at home and in the community is essential for children’s development and well-being. Limited information exists about participation patterns of preschool children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study examines these participation patterns in both the home and community, and the extent to which environmental factors and social communication abilities are associated with participation. Fifty-four parents of preschool-aged children with ASD completed the Participation and Environment Measure for Young Children and the Autism Classification System of Functioning: Social Communication. The children had a mean age of 48.9 (8.4) months. Patterns of participation were studied using descriptive statistics, radar graphs, and Spearman correlations. Children with ASD participated in a variety of activities at home and in the community, but showed a higher participation frequency at home. Parents identified different barriers (e.g., social demands) and supports (e.g., attitudes) in both settings. There was a moderate positive association between children’s social communication abilities and their levels of involvement during participation and the diversity of activities. This study highlights the importance of social communication abilities in the participation of preschool children with ASD, and the need to support parents while they work to improve their child’s participation, especially within their communities.

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Sign Language Echolalia in Deaf Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research ◽

10.1044/2016_jslhr-l-16-0292 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 60 (6) ◽

pp. 1622-1634 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Aaron Shield ◽

Frances Cooley ◽

Richard P. Meier

Keyword(s):

Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽

Sign Language ◽

Children With Autism ◽

Receptive Language ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Spectrum Disorder ◽

Deaf Children ◽

Children With Asd ◽

Language Modality ◽

Hearing Children

Purpose We present the first study of echolalia in deaf, signing children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We investigate the nature and prevalence of sign echolalia in native-signing children with ASD, the relationship between sign echolalia and receptive language, and potential modality differences between sign and speech. Method Seventeen deaf children with ASD and 18 typically developing (TD) deaf children were video-recorded in a series of tasks. Data were coded for type of signs produced (spontaneous, elicited, echo, or nonecho repetition). Echoes were coded as pure or partial, and timing and reduplication of echoes were coded. Results Seven of the 17 deaf children with ASD produced signed echoes, but none of the TD deaf children did. The echoic children had significantly lower receptive language scores than did both the nonechoic children with ASD and the TD children. Modality differences also were found in terms of the directionality, timing, and reduplication of echoes. Conclusions Deaf children with ASD sometimes echo signs, just as hearing children with ASD sometimes echo words, and TD deaf children and those with ASD do so at similar stages of linguistic development, when comprehension is relatively low. The sign language modality might provide a powerful new framework for analyzing the purpose and function of echolalia in deaf children with ASD.

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Early Word Order Usage in Preschool Mandarin-Speaking Typical Children and Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: Influences of Caregiver Input?

Frontiers in Psychology ◽

10.3389/fpsyg.2021.766133 ◽

2022 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

Author(s):

Ying Alice Xu ◽

Letitia R. Naigles ◽

Yi Esther Su

Keyword(s):

Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽

Word Order ◽

Expressive Language ◽

Children With Autism ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Spectrum Disorder ◽

Strong Correlations ◽

Children With Asd ◽

Frequency Of Use ◽

Syntactic Development

This study explores the emergence and productivity of word order usage in Mandarin-speaking typically-developing (TD) children and children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and examines how this emergence relates to frequency of use in caregiver input. Forty-two caregiver-child dyads participated in video-recorded 30-min semi-structured play sessions. Eleven children with ASD were matched with 10 20-month-old TD children and another 11 children with ASD were matched with 10 26-month-old TD children, on expressive language. We report four major findings: (1) Preschool Mandarin-speaking children with ASD produced word order structures with pervasive ellipsis at similar rates to language-matched TD children, but also displayed differences from TD children in their usage of SVt and VtO frames; (2) Grammatical productivity was observed in both TD children and children with ASD; moreover, children with ASD with higher expressive language produced less stereotyped language; (3) Both TD children and children with ASD heard a range of word orders in their caregivers’ input, with TD children’s input greater in amount and complexity; however, caregivers of both groups also showed no age/language-related changes in word order usage; (4) Few word-order-specific correlations emerged between caregivers and their children; however, strong correlations were observed for mean length of utterances (MLU) for both groups: Caregivers who produced longer/more complex utterances had children who did the same. Taken together, it seems that despite their pragmatic deficits, the early grammatical knowledge of word order in Mandarin-exposed children with ASD is well preserved and in general follows the typical developmental pattern. Moreover, caregiver input is broadly rather than finely tuned to the linguistic development of TD children and children with ASD, and plays a more important role in children’s general syntactic development than in specific word order acquisition. Thus, early word order usage in preschool Mandarin-speaking TD children and children with ASD may be influenced by both caregiver input and child abilities.

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Language profiles in young children with autism spectrum disorder: A community sample using multiple assessment instruments

Autism ◽

10.1177/1362361317726245 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 23 (1) ◽

pp. 141-153 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Rose Nevill ◽

Darren Hedley ◽

Mirko Uljarević ◽

Ensu Sahin ◽

Johanna Zadek ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽

Young Children ◽

Expressive Language ◽

Children With Autism ◽

Receptive Language ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Spectrum Disorder ◽

Young Children With Autism ◽

Language Profiles ◽

Nonverbal Cognition

This study investigated language profiles in a community-based sample of 104 children aged 1–3 years who had been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder using Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.) diagnostic criteria. Language was assessed with the Mullen scales, Preschool Language Scale, fifth edition, and Vineland-II parent-report. The study aimed to determine whether the receptive-to-expressive language profile is independent from the assessment instrument used, and whether nonverbal cognition, early communicative behaviors, and autism spectrum disorder symptoms predict language scores. Receptive-to-expressive language profiles differed between assessment instruments and reporters, and Preschool Language Scale, fifth edition profiles were also dependent on developmental level. Nonverbal cognition and joint attention significantly predicted receptive language scores, and nonverbal cognition and frequency of vocalizations predicted expressive language scores. These findings support the administration of multiple direct assessment and parent-report instruments when evaluating language in young children with autism spectrum disorder, for both research and in clinical settings. Results also support that joint attention is a useful intervention target for improving receptive language skills in young children with autism spectrum disorder. Future research comparing language profiles of young children with autism spectrum disorder to children with non-autism spectrum disorder developmental delays and typical development will add to our knowledge of early language development in children with autism spectrum disorder.

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Predicting Expressive Language From Early Vocalizations in Young Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: Which Vocal Measure Is Best?

Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research ◽

10.1044/2020_jslhr-19-00281 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 63 (5) ◽

pp. 1509-1520

Author(s):

Jena McDaniel ◽

Paul Yoder ◽

Annette Estes ◽

Sally J. Rogers

Keyword(s):

Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽

Young Children ◽

Language Skills ◽

Expressive Language ◽

Children With Autism ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Incremental Validity ◽

Added Value ◽

Children With Asd

Purpose This study was designed to test the incremental validity of more expensive vocal development variables relative to less expensive variables for predicting later expressive language in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We devote particular attention to the added value of coding the quality of vocalizations over the quantity of vocalizations because coding quality adds expense to the coding process. We are also interested in the added value of more costly human-coded vocal variables relative to those generated through automated analyses. Method Eighty-seven children with ASD aged 13–30 months at study initiation participated. For quantity of vocalizations, we derived one variable from human coding of brief communication samples and one from an automated process for daylong naturalistic audio samples. For quality of vocalizations, we derived four human-coded variables and one automated variable. A composite expressive language measure was derived at study entry, and 6 and 12 months later. The 12 months–centered intercept of a simple linear growth trajectory was used to quantify later expressive language. Results When statistically controlling for human-coded or automated quantity of vocalization variables, human-coded quality of vocalization variables exhibited incremental validity for predicting later expressive language skills. Human-coded vocal variables also predicted later expressive language skills when controlling for the analogous automated vocal variables. Conclusion In sum, these findings support devoting resources to human coding of the quality of vocalizations from communication samples to predict later expressive language skills in young children with ASD despite the greater costs of deriving these variables. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.12276458

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Communicative Use of Triadic Eye Gaze in Children With Down Syndrome, Autism Spectrum Disorder, and Other Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology ◽

10.1044/2019_ajslp-18-0155 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 28 (4) ◽

pp. 1509-1522

Author(s):

Laura J. Hahn ◽

Nancy C. Brady ◽

Theresa Versaci

Keyword(s):

Down Syndrome ◽

Developmental Disabilities ◽

Expressive Language ◽

Eye Gaze ◽

Receptive Language ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Language Models ◽

Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities ◽

Language Abilities ◽

Children With Asd

Purpose This study examines differences in the communicative use of triadic eye gaze (TEG) during a communicative interaction in 2 neurodevelopmental disorders: Down syndrome (DS) and autism spectrum disorders (ASD), and a 3rd group of varying disabilities associated with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDDs). Also, the relationship between TEG use and language abilities was explored. Method Participants were 45 children, 15 in each group. The frequency of TEG was coded during a scripted communication assessment when children were between 3 and 6 years of age (37–73 months). Receptive and expressive language was measured using raw scores from the Mullen Scales of Early Learning concurrently between 3 and 6 years and again 2 years later when children were between 5 and 8 years (59–92 months). Results Descriptively, children with DS had a higher frequency of TEG than children with ASD and IDD, but significant differences were only observed between children with DS and ASD. More TEG at Time 1 in children with DS was associated with higher receptive language at Time 1 and higher expressive language at Time 2. For children with ASD, a trend for a positive association between TEG at Time 1 and language abilities at Time 2 was observed. No significant associations were observed for children with IDD. Conclusion Children with DS used TEG significantly more than children with ASD in this sample. Identifying strengths and weaknesses in TEG use is important because providing caregiver training to facilitate TEG can result in increased opportunities to respond with language models and promote language development.

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The role of early social motivation in explaining variability in functional language in toddlers with autism spectrum disorder

Autism ◽

10.1177/1362361320953260 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 136236132095326 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Pumpki L Su ◽

Sally J Rogers ◽

Annette Estes ◽

Paul Yoder

Keyword(s):

Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽

Language Development ◽

Expressive Language ◽

Children With Autism ◽

Social Motivation ◽

Receptive Language ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Spectrum Disorder ◽

Functional Language ◽

Intentional Communication

This study examined an insufficiently studied predictor of functional language, social motivation, in a group of 87 young children with autism spectrum disorder. Participants (age 14–31 months at the start of the study) were assessed at four times over 24 months. We tested total and indirect associations between early social motivation and later expressive language to understand the behavioral mechanisms by which social motivation might affect functional language development. Results from this study show that early social motivation predicts functional language 2 years later in young children with autism spectrum disorder. In addition, this positive longitudinal association is serially mediated by intentional communication and then receptive language. These findings are consistent with the elicited bootstrapping hypothesis which proposes that children with relatively stronger social motivation produce more intentional communication. This, in turn, elicits others’ linguistic input which impels receptive language development. This process eventually results in relatively increased expressive language development. Lay abstract About one-third of children with autism spectrum disorder never develop the language that they need in different day-to-day situations. Identifying potential factors that can predict later language development is crucial to understanding why some children with autism spectrum disorder successfully develop language while others do not. This study sought to investigate one of the understudied predictors of language development, social motivation, and to test theories for why this association may occur. Testing the theories requires that we measure children’s ability to deliberately and directly communicate with others (i.e. intentional communication) and children’s language understanding between the measures of social motivation and later expressive language. We tested 87 children with autism spectrum disorder, aged 14–31 months, at four times over 24 months. We found that children with relatively stronger social motivation had relatively better language use 2 years later. This positive link was partly due to a child’s ability to produce intentional communication and to understand language. Although we did not measure parents’ talking to their children, a theory that inspired this study suggests that children who use frequent intentional communication probably motivate others to talk with them frequently, which facilitates children’s language understanding which leads to the development of expressive language. This theory, if confirmed to be true, can provide guidance for parents who want to help their children learn to talk. Parents could look for intentional communication from their children and respond by talking to their children. Effective intervention on both parent and child targets will likely enhance treatment efficacy. Future work is needed to test these ideas.

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Efficacy of Interventions Based on Applied Behavior Analysis for Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Meta-Analysis

Psychiatry Investigation ◽

10.30773/pi.2019.0229 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 17 (5) ◽

pp. 432-443 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Qian Yu ◽

Enyao Li ◽

Liguo Li ◽

Weiyi Liang

Keyword(s):

Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽

Behavior Analysis ◽

Communication Systems ◽

Expressive Language ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Receptive Language ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Spectrum Disorder ◽

Sensitivity Analyses ◽

Children With Asd

Objective To systematically evaluate evidence for the use of interventions based on appied behavior analysis (ABA) to manage various symptoms of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).Methods Sensitivity analyses were conducted by removing any outlying studies and subgroup analyses were performed to compare the effectiveness of ABA and early start denver model (ESDM), picture exchange communication systems (PECS) and discrete trial training (DTT).Results 14 randomized control trials of 555 participants were included in this meta-analysis. The overall standardized mean difference was d=-0.36 (95% CI -1.31, 0.58; Z=0.75, p=0.45) for autism general symptoms, d=0.11 (95% CI -0.31, 0.54; Z=0.52, p=0.60) for socialization, d=0.30 (95% CI -0.02, 0.61; Z=1.84, p=0.07) for communication and d=-3.52 (95% CI -6.31, -0.72; Z=2.47, p=0.01) for expressive language, d=-0.04 (95% CI -0.44, 0.36; Z=0.20, p=0.84) for receptive language. Those results suggested outcomes of socialization, communication and expressive language may be promising targets for ABA-based interventions involving children with ASD. However, significant effects for the outcomes of autism general symptoms, receptive language, adaptive behavior, daily living skills, IQ, verbal IQ, nenverbal IQ, restricted and repetitive behavior, motor and cognition were not observed.Conclusion The small number of studies included in the present study limited the ability to make inferences when comparing ABA, ESDM, PECS and DTT interventions for children with ASD.

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THE APPLICATION OF THE JOINT STIMULUS CONTROL MODEL IN TEACHING COMPLEX RECEPTIVE LANGUAGE TO CHILDREN WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER /JUNGTINĖS STIMULŲ KONTROLĖS MODELIO PRITAIKYMAS UGDANT VAIKŲ, TURINČIŲ AUTIZMO SPEKTRO SUTRIKIMĄ, KOMPL. KALBOS SUVOKIMĄ

SPECIALUSIS UGDYMAS / SPECIAL EDUCATION ◽

10.21277/se.v1i38.372 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 1 (38) ◽

pp. 105

Author(s):

Rita Raudeliūnaitė ◽

Eglė Steponėnienė

Keyword(s):

Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽

Stimulus Control ◽

Children With Autism ◽

Receptive Language ◽

Autism Spectrum ◽

Control Model ◽

Spectrum Disorder ◽

Evidence Based ◽

Children With Asd ◽

Verbal Behaviour

Lithuanian educators are still not adequately well prepared to teach children with autism spectrum disorder (further in text ASD). There is a lack of research, the access to evidence-based methods is limited, and traditional educational methodological approaches are usually ineffective (Diržytė, Mikulėnaitė & Kalvaitis, 2016; Buivydaitė, Newman & Prasauskienė, 2017).One of the earliest signs of ASD is failure to develop language and social communication (Mody & Bellieveau, 2013; Arunachalam & Luyster 2016; etc.). Meta-analyses conducted by foreign researchers show that B.F. Skinner’s (1957) verbal behaviour analysis is one of the evidence-based effective methods used for developing language in children with ASD (McPherson et al., 1984; Dymond et al. 2006; Sautter & LeBlanc, 2006; Devine & Petursdottir, 2017). A rapid increase in the prevalence of ASD brings the researchers’ attention to the possibilities of applying this method, however, there are still some areas in verbal behaviour approach remaining, which lack research. Scientific studies in these areas would likely open effective ways for developing language in children with ASD (Devine & Petursdottir, 2017). The researchers (Buivydaitė, Newman & Prasauskienė, 2017) have conducted a review of scientific articles on ASD in the Baltic states (including Lithuania), and the findings of it confirm the lack of such research. In this study, a single-subject educational experiment was used, during which a joint stimulus control model was applied for developing language in children with ASD, with the main focus being on receptive language acquisition. The object of joint stimulus control is the development of a symmetrical (bi-directional) word-object relation and independent, verbally maintained generalisation with unlearned stimuli. The results of the experiment show that a joint stimulus control model can be applied as an effective mechanism to develop language in children with ASD. In the presence of non-verbal stimuli and rehearsing the names of the stimuli overtly or covertly, the joint stimulus control emerges and, in this way, the complex receptive language perception in children with ASD is developed within the context of social interaction. The participants of this experiment were able to emit correct responses with the novel sets of stimuli and were able to apply this mechanism without prompts not only in teaching sessions, but also in other social situations. Lietuvos pedagogai vis dar nepasiruošę ugdyti autizmo spektro sutrikimų (toliau ASS) turinčius vaikus, trūksta tyrimų, moksliškai pagrįstų metodikų prieinamumas yra ribotas, o tradicinės metodinės prieigos dažnai būna neveiksmingos (Diržytė, Mikulėnaitė ir Kalvaitis, 2016; Buivydaitė, Newman ir Prasauskienė, 2017).Vienas pagrindinių ASS požymių yra kalbos ir socialinės komunikacijos sutrikimas (Mody ir Bellieveau, 2013; Arunachalam ir Luyster 2016 ir kt.). Kaip rodo užsienio mokslininkų atliktos meta- analizės (McPherson et al., 1984; Dymond et a. 2006; Sautter ir LeBlanc, 2006; Devine ir Petursdottir, 2017), B.F. Skinerio verbalinio elgesio analizė (1957) yra viena iš empiriniais tyrimais pagrįstų veiksmingų ASS turinčių vaikų kalbos ugdymo metodikų. Didėjant ASS turinčių vaikų skaičiui, sparčiai auga mokslininkų susidomėjimas šios metodikos pritaikymo galimybėmis, tačiau vis dar lieka verbalinio elgesio analizės sričių, kurių ištirtumas atvertų efektyvius kelius į ASS turinčių vaikų kalbos ugdymą (Devine ir Petursdottir, 2017). Mokslininkų (Buivydaitė, Newman ir Prasauskienė, 2017) atlikta mokslinių straipsnių ASS tematika analizė Baltijos šalyse, tame tarpe ir Lietuvoje, patvirtina tyrimų stokos problemą. Šiame straipsnyje aprašomas ugdomasis individualusis eksperimentas, kurio metu taikytas jungtinės stimulų kontrolės modelis ugdant ASS turinčių vaikų kalbą, pagrindinį dėmesį sutelkiant į kalbos suvokimo ugdymą. Jungtinės stimulų kontrolės objektas yra simetrinio (abipusio) žodžio – objekto tarpusavio ryšio vystymas ir savarankiška, verbaliai palaikoma, generalizacija pritaikoma su nemokytais stimulais. Eksperimentu nustatyta, kad jungtinės stimulų kontrolės modelis, gali būti efektyvus mechanizmas ugdant ASS turinčių vaikų kalbinius gebėjimus. Matant neverbalinių stimulų vaizdus ir kartojant jų pavadinimus balsu arba sau mintyse pasireiškia jungtinė stimulų kontrolė, ir tokiu būdu ugdomas ASS vaikų kompleksinis receptyvusis suvokimas socialinio bendravimo kontekste. Naudodamiesi šiuo įrankiu, eksperimento dalyviai gebėjo teisingai atlikti užduotį su naujais stimulų rinkiniais ir išmoko savarankiškai taikyti šio modelio mechanizmą ne tik mokymo(si), bet ir kitose socialinėse situacijose.

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