The Window to Language is Still Open: Distinguishing Between Preverbal and Minimally Verbal Children With ASD

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlotte DiStefano ◽  
Connie Kasari
Keyword(s):  
Language Development ◽  
Children With Autism ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Preschool Age ◽  
Minimally Verbal ◽  
Linguistic Communication ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Preschool Age Children ◽  
Minimally Verbal Children

While a large number of preschool age children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) use no or little spoken language, only a portion will remain minimally verbal into elementary school. Determining whether a child is likely to remain minimally verbal past the preschool years is of great importance to families and clinicians, and can inform intervention efforts. Evidence from both behavioral and neuroimaging studies provide support for the idea that minimally verbal children with ASD have specific and unique expressive language deficits and are not simply at an earlier stage of language development. Intervention that focuses on pre-linguistic skills, such as joint attention, gestures, and vocalizations can be effective to increase language in pre- and minimally verbal children with ASD. The use of speech generating devices (SGD) has also been shown to support spoken language development in this population. Although many preschool aged children with ASD are using no or very little language, many of these children are in fact pre-verbal, and will continue to develop language skills. Targeted intervention, including a focus on pre-linguistic communication and SGD, will help support their language development.

Vocalizations of minimally verbal children with autism spectrum disorder across the school year

Autism ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 371-382 ◽  
Author(s):  
Moon Young Savana Bak ◽  
Joshua B Plavnick ◽  
Sarah M Byrne
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Language Development ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Children With Autism ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Minimally Verbal ◽  
Environment Analysis ◽  
School Year ◽  
Minimally Verbal Children

Little is known about the language trajectories of minimally verbal school-aged children with autism spectrum disorders. The present investigation conducted observations across two elementary schools over an entire school year to analyze the vocal language development of nine minimally verbal children with autism spectrum disorder between the ages of 6 and 10 years, and their educational service providers. A Language Environment Analysis™ device automatically recorded and disaggregated over 743 h of data on child vocalizations, and vocal interactions with adults. Vocalizations did not increase for eight of the nine participants, and conversational counts between participants and adults were near zero across the entire year. These results speak to the need for additional research examining language development and potential intervention strategies among minimally verbal children with autism spectrum disorder.

Imitation Recognition by Minimally Verbal Young Children: A Comparison Between Down Syndrome and Autism Spectrum Disorder

2021 ◽  
pp. 108835762110350
Author(s):  
Gökhan Töret
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Down Syndrome ◽  
Children With Autism ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Typically Developing ◽  
Minimally Verbal ◽  
Typically Developing Children ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Minimally Verbal Children

Research has shown that children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) display limited imitation recognition behaviors in comparison with typically developing children. However, the levels of imitation recognition of minimally verbal children with ASD relative to those with developmental disabilities are unknown. The purpose of this study was to compare the imitation recognition behaviors of 20 minimally verbal children with ASD and 20 minimally verbal children with Down syndrome (DS) when imitated by an adult in a play context. Results showed that children with ASD display more limited imitation recognition than children with DS. These results indicate that children with ASD are weaker in displaying imitation recognition. On the contrary, both groups display an association between imitation recognition and a variety of play actions in both groups.

Sensory Behaviors in Minimally Verbal Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: How and When Do Caregivers Respond?

2018 ◽  
Vol 123 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clare Harrop ◽  
Nicole Tu ◽  
Rebecca Landa ◽  
Ann Kasier ◽  
Connie Kasari
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Children With Autism ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Minimally Verbal ◽  
Mixed Methods Approach ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Minimally Verbal Children ◽  
Sensory Behaviors

Abstract Sensory behaviors are widely reported in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, the impact of these behaviors on families remains largely unknown. This study explored how caregivers of minimally verbal children with ASD responded to their child's sensory behaviors. Using a mixed-methods approach, we examined two variables for each endorsed child behavior: (1) Did the caregiver respond/try to change the behavior? and (2) What response did they employ? Caregivers did not differ in the frequency of responses to hypo- or hyper-responsive behaviors but employed different responses. Caregivers responded to more social sensory behaviors and predominately changed their own behavior in response to their child's. Our findings demonstrate how extensively caregivers adapt to their child's behaviors and vary their response dependent on behavior exhibited.

The Role of the SLP in Autism Spectrum Disorder Screening and Assessment

2008 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 50-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy Philofsky
Keyword(s):  
Language Development ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Children With Autism ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Prevalence Estimates ◽  
Notable Increase ◽  
Screening Assessment ◽  
Critical Components

AbstractRecent prevalence estimates for autism have been alarming as a function of the notable increase. Speech-language pathologists play a critical role in screening, assessment and intervention for children with autism. This article reviews signs that may be indicative of autism at different stages of language development, and discusses the importance of several psychometric properties—sensitivity and specificity—in utilizing screening measures for children with autism. Critical components of assessment for children with autism are reviewed. This article concludes with examples of intervention targets for children with ASD at various levels of language development.

scholarly journals A New Evaluation Technique Through Serious Games for Children with ASD

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (11) ◽  
pp. 202
Author(s):  
Najoua Tahiri ◽  
Mohamed El Alami
Keyword(s):  
Serious Games ◽  
Children With Autism ◽  
Assessment Method ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Preschool Age ◽  
Traditional Assessment ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Nonverbal Expression ◽  
Communication Difficulties ◽  
A New Technique

Assessment at preschool age plays a crucial role in the process of learning especially for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), whom encounter communication difficulties as exchanging thoughts or information by speech, writing or nonverbal expression. Therefore, a welldesigned assessment method is necessary in order to guide learning and serve as a powerful tool to reinforce children's motivation to learn. Information about what a child with ASD knows, understands and is able to do is used by tutors to adjust their teaching strategies. All assessment methods have different purposes before, during or after instruction. Besides, formative assessment is the most recommended type that helps improving children's learning and it takes place during the learning process. Also, serious games provide a context for assessing a broader range of skills and constructs compared to traditional assessment approaches. In this article, we propose a new technique for evaluating the degree of concept's assimilation of children with ASD through serious games. It allows identifying concepts that children are struggling to understand and skills they are having difficulty acquiring.

scholarly journals Predicting Receptive–Expressive Vocabulary Discrepancies in Preschool Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

2018 ◽  
Vol 61 (6) ◽  
pp. 1426-1439 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jena McDaniel ◽  
Paul Yoder ◽  
Tiffany Woynaroski ◽  
Linda R. Watson
Keyword(s):  
Autism Spectrum Disorder ◽  
Language Development ◽  
Motor Performance ◽  
Children With Autism ◽  
Autism Spectrum ◽  
Expressive Vocabulary ◽  
Vocabulary Size ◽  
Oral Motor ◽  
Children With Asd ◽  
Size Discrepancy

PurposeCorrelates of receptive–expressive vocabulary size discrepancies may provide insights into why language development in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) deviates from typical language development and ultimately improve intervention outcomes.MethodWe indexed receptive–expressive vocabulary size discrepancies of 65 initially preverbal children with ASD (20–48 months) to a comparison sample from the MacArthur–Bates Communicative Development Inventories Wordbank (Frank, Braginsky, Yurovsky, & Marchman, 2017) to quantify typicality. We then tested whether attention toward a speaker and oral motor performance predict typicality of the discrepancy 8 months later.ResultsAttention toward a speaker correlated positively with receptive–expressive vocabulary size discrepancy typicality. Imitative and nonimitative oral motor performance were not significant predictors of vocabulary size discrepancy typicality. Secondary analyses indicated that midpoint receptive vocabulary size mediated the association between initial attention toward a speaker and end point receptive–expressive vocabulary size discrepancy typicality.ConclusionsFindings support the hypothesis that variation in attention toward a speaker might partially explain receptive–expressive vocabulary size discrepancy magnitude in children with ASD. Results are consistent with an input-processing deficit explanation of language impairment in this clinical population. Future studies should test whether attention toward a speaker is malleable and causally related to receptive–expressive discrepancies in children with ASD.

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