scholarly journals Developmental associations between joint engagement and autistic children’s vocabulary: A cross-lagged panel analysis

Autism ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 136236132096864
Author(s):  
Kristen Bottema-Beutel ◽  
So Yoon Kim ◽  
Shannon Crowley ◽  
Paul J Yoder

Cross-lagged panel analysis was used to examine associations between two joint engagement variables; higher order supported joint engagement and higher order supported joint engagement that co-occurs with caregiver’s follow-in talk (higher order supported joint engagement + follow-in), and expressive and receptive vocabulary in a group of young autistic children ( n = 91) with language delay (mean chronological age = 39 months). Variables were measured twice, 8 months apart. Coefficients for cross-lagged variable pairs were derived from structural equation models. Early higher order supported joint engagement was significantly associated with later expressive and receptive vocabulary ( bs = 0.18 and 0.26, respectively), and early higher order supported joint engagement + follow-in was significantly associated with later expressive and receptive vocabulary ( bs = 0.14 and 0.15, respectively). Associations between early vocabulary and later joint engagement were not significant. Linear contrasts between cross-lagged associations did not show a significantly superior association for any early joint engagement variables and later vocabulary variables. However, our results suggest that higher order supported joint engagement and higher order supported joint engagement + follow-in may be useful initial intervention targets for developmental interventions aimed at promoting autistic children’s language development who are initially language delayed. Lay abstract In this study, we used a cross-lagged panel analysis to examine correlations over time between two types of engagement between children and their parents and children’s later expressive and receptive vocabularies. This kind of design can help researchers understand which early developmental achievements “drive” later developmental achievements. It is important for intervention researchers to know which developmental achievements happen first, so that they can set intervention goals appropriately. The two joint engagement variables we examined were (a) higher order supported joint engagement, which occurs when caregivers influence their child’s play with toys and the child reciprocally responds to the caregiver, but does not manage the interaction by shifting gaze between the toys and the caregiver, and (b) higher order supported joint engagement that co-occurs with caregiver’s follow-in talk (higher order supported joint engagement + follow-in). Follow-in talk occurs when the caregiver talks about objects and events that the child is focused on. Ninety-one autistic children ( n = 91) with language delay (mean chronological age = 39 months) participated, along with their primary caregivers. Each of the four variables was measured twice, 8 months apart. Our statistical procedures showed that early higher order supported joint engagement and early higher order supported joint engagement + follow-in were significantly associated with later expressive and receptive vocabulary. In contrast, associations between early vocabulary variables and later joint engagement variables were not significant. Our results suggest that higher order supported joint engagement and higher order supported joint engagement + follow-in may be useful initial intervention targets, for developmental interventions aimed at promoting language development in autistic children who are initially language delayed.

1997 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 34-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne van Kleeck ◽  
Ronald B. Gillam ◽  
Barbara Davis

We commend Paul for undertaking an investigation that concerns critical clinical and theoretical issues. This type of longitudinal developmental research is exactly what is needed to advance the scientific basis of our profession. We also respect Paul's attempt to construct a firm bridge between her findings and their clinical implications. The necessary and sufficient data that completely solve a clinical problem are rarely available. Because clinicians do not have the luxury of waiting until the best data imaginable are collected and analyzed before acting, it is helpful for researchers to generalize their results to the extent possible. However, because of its potential clinical, economic, and educational implications, we believe that a broad social policy like Paul's "watch and see" recommendation should be based on unambiguous evidence. We have suggested that a number of the children in Paul's cohort may have been within the normal range in language development at the beginning of the study. Without individual data, it is impossible for us to know whether or not this was the case. To the extent that our suspicions hold true, Paul's study tells us that a number of children who function at the low end of the normal range of language development between 20 and 34 months stay within the normal range throughout the preschool and early school-age years. Paul's suggestion of "watch and see" seems reasonable enough for the 74% of the children who tested within the normal range by kindergarten and first grade, but it may not have been sufficient for the 26% who did not. We believe children like those in this latter group would probably benefit from preschool language intervention and that very valuable language learning time could be lost if Paul's general "watch and see" policy were implemented. It is possible that children with good outcomes and children with language delays that were significant and persistent had different profiles with respect to expressive vocabulary, receptive vocabulary, speech, and communicative intentions at the onset of the study. If so, one broad social policy may not be sufficient. We have asked Paul to provide additional data about the nature of the language difficulties exhibited by the children at the outset of her study, the predictors of continued language delay, and the results of language intervention efforts. It is our hope that Paul can provide the kinds of additional data and analyses we have requested in this discussion, and that this data can serve as the basis for refinements in definitions of early language delay, decisions about providing clinical services to very young children, and methods for analyzing intervention efficacy.


Author(s):  
Ασημίνα Μ. Ράλλη ◽  
Ολυμπία Παληκαρά

In this study, we tested the predictions of two opposing perspectives on the nature of the deficit in Specific Language Impairment (SLI): the language delay approach, and the view that the language development of SLI children is qualitatively different from typically developing children populations. Data consisted of the elicited production of pronominal object clitics from monolingual and bilingual SLI children with various language pairs (Greek always being the children’s second language); younger, typically developing, bilingual language peers, and monolingual Greek-speaking comparison groups. We analyzed the children’s accurate responses and error-types in clitic production. Both SLI groups had more difficulty with clitics in comparison to typically-developing, chronological age-matched peers, while SLI children performed similarly with their younger, unaffected monolingual and bilingual peers. We argue that these findings provide support to the language delay approach and present challenges to the role of bilingualism in SLI.


Author(s):  
Ιάνθη - Μαρία Τσιμπλή ◽  
Ελένη Περιστέρη ◽  
Μαρία Ανδρέου

In this study, we tested the predictions of two opposing perspectives on the nature of the deficit in Specific Language Impairment (SLI): the language delay approach, and the view that the language development of SLI children is qualitatively different from typically developing children populations. Data consisted of the elicited production of pronominal object clitics from monolingual and bilingual SLI children with various language pairs (Greek always being the children’s second language); younger, typically developing, bilingual language peers, and monolingual Greek-speaking comparison groups. We analyzed the children’s accurate responses and error-types in clitic production. Both SLI groups had more difficulty with clitics in comparison to typically-developing, chronological age-matched peers, while SLI children performed similarly with their younger, unaffected monolingual and bilingual peers. We argue that these findings provide support to the language delay approach and present challenges to the role of bilingualism in SLI.


2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 1783-1797
Author(s):  
Kelly L. Coburn ◽  
Diane L. Williams

Purpose Neurodevelopmental processes that begin during gestation and continue throughout childhood typically support language development. Understanding these processes can help us to understand the disruptions to language that occur in neurodevelopmental conditions, such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Method For this tutorial, we conducted a focused literature review on typical postnatal brain development and structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging, diffusion tensor imaging, magnetoencephalography, and electroencephalography studies of the neurodevelopmental differences that occur in ASD. We then integrated this knowledge with the literature on evidence-based speech-language intervention practices for autistic children. Results In ASD, structural differences include altered patterns of cortical growth and myelination. Functional differences occur at all brain levels, from lateralization of cortical functions to the rhythmic activations of single neurons. Neuronal oscillations, in particular, could help explain disrupted language development by elucidating the timing differences that contribute to altered functional connectivity, complex information processing, and speech parsing. Findings related to implicit statistical learning, explicit task learning, multisensory integration, and reinforcement in ASD are also discussed. Conclusions Consideration of the neural differences in autistic children provides additional scientific support for current recommended language intervention practices. Recommendations consistent with these neurological findings include the use of short, simple utterances; repetition of syntactic structures using varied vocabulary; pause time; visual supports; and individualized sensory modifications.


2021 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mona Sameeh Khodeir ◽  
Dina Fouad El Sayed Moussa ◽  
Rasha Mohammed Shoeib

Abstract Background Pragmatics is the social use of language that draws on understanding human interactions in specific contexts and requires engagement with a communicative partner or partners. The hearing-impaired children are known to have a pragmatic language delay as hearing impairment deprived of exposure to natural communication interactions, in addition to the language delay they have. Since the age of implantation has emerged as an important predictor of language, hearing, and speech in children who use cochlear implants (CI), question aroused about the benefits of early cochlear implantation on pragmatic language development in those children. Thus, this study aims to compare the pragmatic language development of the prelingual hearing impaired children who cochlear implanted before the age of 3 years and those who cochlear implanted after the age of 3 years. Results The two study groups showed no significant differences regard their scores in the Egyptian Arabic Pragmatic Language Test (EAPLT). The two studied groups had pragmatic language scores below their 5th percentile. Among the studied groups, the scores of the EAPLT were positively correlated to the age of the children, the children’s language abilities, and the duration of the received language rehabilitation, with no significant correlation to the age of implantation. Conclusions The age of implantation has no impact on pragmatic language development in children with CI. The prelingual children with CI are susceptible to delays in the pragmatic language development that is primarily related to the age of those children and their language abilities, besides their experience in social interactions. These results should be considered in their rehabilitative plan and advocate the importance of early incorporation of pragmatic behaviors into their intervention programs.


1990 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 393-407 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leslie Rescorla ◽  
Ellen Schwartz

ABSTRACTThis article describes a follow-up of 25 boys diagnosed as having specific expressive language delay (SELD) in the 24- to 31-month age period. At the time of diagnosis, all subjects had Bayley MDI scores above 85, Reynell Receptive Language Age scores within 4 months of their chronological age, and Reynell Expressive Language Age scores at least 5 months below chronological age; most had vocabularies of fewer than 50 words and few if any word combinations. At follow-up, 16 boys were 3 years old, 7 were 3½, and 2 were 4 years of age. When seen for follow-up, half the 25 boys still had very poor expressive language. These boys were speaking at best in short, telegraphic sentences, and many had moderately severe articulation disorders with quite poor intelligibility. The 12 boys with better outcome had a range of language skills. All spoke in sentences to some extent, and each displayed some mastery of early morphemes (prepositions, plurals, articles, progressive tense, and possessives). However, few if any of the children spoke in completely fluent, syntactically complex, and morphologically correct language. Problems with copula and auxiliary verbs, with past tense inflections, and with pronouns seemed especially common. This research suggests that children with SELD at 24 to 30 months are at considerable risk for continuing language problems.


PEDIATRICS ◽  
1971 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 116-122
Author(s):  
Maarten S. Sibinga ◽  
C. Jack Friedman

The incidence of delay in language development and difficulties in speech articulation was determined in 71 children selected because of a history of prior physical immobilization. Ten children were referred for psychological evaluation after contact with a speech department, 44 presented with a variety of learning and behavioral difficulties, and 17 children were known through social contacts. Nine children were clearly brain damaged while 13 showed questionable evidence of brain damage. Language delay and speech articulation problems occurred in at least 55% of the children in the various groups. Young age (4.7 months) at the time of the initial restraint experience, but not the duration of the initial restraint experience, was positively related to the presence of language delay and articulation problems. Interference with sensorimotor function not directly involved in receptive or expressive speech functions might well he implicated in language and speech disturbances.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy Rossow ◽  
Keren MacLennan

Depression, much like other mental health conditions, is common in autism, with autistic individuals much more likely to be diagnosed than their non-autistic peers. Sensory reactivity differences are also commonly experienced by autistic individuals and have been associated with depressive symptoms. However, there is little understanding of the predictive relationship between sensory reactivity and depressive symptoms, or the nature of this relationship in autistic children who speak few to no words. This study set out to explore the longitudinal relationship between sensory reactivity and depressive symptoms in 33 young autistic children who speak few to no words over two timepoints. We found positive correlations between depressive symptoms and hyper-reactivity and sensory seeking at both timepoints. We further found a bidirectional predictive relationship between depressive symptoms and sensory seeking. These results implicate sensory seeking in the development of depressive symptoms in young autistic children who use few to no words. Our findings have important implications for preventative mental health interventions, especially for those with a developmental language delay.Key words: autism; sensory reactivity; depression; children; language delay


1989 ◽  
Vol 54 (4) ◽  
pp. 587-599 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leslie Rescorla

This paper reports data from four studies using the Language Development Survey (LDS), a vocabulary checklist designed for use as a screening tool for the identification of language delay in 2-year-old children. A survey completed by the parent in about 10 min, the LDS displayed excellent reliability as assessed by Cronbach's alpha and test-retest techniques. Total vocabulary score as reported on the LDS was highly correlated with performance on Bayley, Reynell, and Preschool Language Scale expressive vocabulary items. The LDS was found to have excellent sensitivity and specificity for the identification of language delay, with a criterion of fewer than 50 words or no word combinations at 2 years yielding very low false positive and false negative rates. Data from three of these studies demonstrate the utility of the LDS as a screening tool for children attending public and private pediatric practices. Prevalence data using the LDS are reported comparing three different severity cutoffs for more than 500 children in seven survey samples.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document