A meta-analysis of the association between vocalizations and expressive language in children with autism spectrum disorder

McDaniel, Jena; Slaboch, Kathryn D’Ambrose; Yoder, Paul J.

doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2017.11.010

Cited by 35 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 52 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…In contrast, the significant correlation between early consonant inventory and expressive language growth seen in Yoder et al (2015) was replicated in this sample. This adds to prior emerging evidence that speech production abilities are related to expressive language development in autistic preschoolers (McDaniel et al, 2017) and that speech production is worthy of further consideration when devising interventions (e.g. Chenausky, Norton, Tager-Flusberg & Schlaug, 2018).…”

Section: Confirmatory Analysesmentioning

confidence: 61%

“…Investigations of infant siblings of autistic children (who have a higher chance of obtaining an autism diagnosis) also indicate early differences in vocalization rate and quality (Chenausky et al, 2017; Patten et al, 2014; Paul et al, 2011). A recent meta-analysis concluded that pre-verbal vocalizations are correlated with concurrent and later expressive language in young autistic children (weighted effect size of r = 0.50, McDaniel et al, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Does phonetic repertoire in minimally verbal autistic preschoolers predict the severity of later expressive language impairment?

Saul

Norbury

2020

Autism

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Trajectories of expressive language development are highly heterogeneous in autism. Yoder et al. found that parental responsiveness, child response to joint attention, child communicative intent and consonant inventory were unique predictors of expressive language growth in minimally verbal preschoolers 16 months later ( n = 87). This study applied these predictors to an independent sample, over a 12-month period ( n = 27). A broader measure of phonetic repertoire, combining reported, elicited and observed speech sounds, was included to further understand the contribution of speech production skills. Expressive language growth was highly variable: 65% remained minimally verbal at mean age 5;2, while 7% gained over 340 words. Contrary to expectations, communicative intent, parent responsiveness and response to joint attention were not found to predict expressive language growth or outcome. In contrast, both consonant inventory and phonetic repertoire were significant predictors (adjusted R2 = 0.29 and 0.45). These results underscore the contribution of speech production abilities to expressive language development in this population, which may reflect an additional deficit rather than a consequence of core autism symptoms. Future work should include those with the most persistently limited expressive language, so that findings can be generalized and additional barriers to communication identified and addressed. Lay abstract What is already known about the topic? Language skills vary enormously in autism: while some autistic individuals can engage in sophisticated conversations, many remain minimally verbal, meaning they use few or no words regularly for communication. We do not know what causes this variation, but we do know that certain child and family characteristics can be measured when a child is young, and this information can improve our prediction of how expressive language might develop over time. What this article adds? We examined four characteristics, which have already been found to predict language development in young minimally verbal autistic children. We followed the expressive language progress of 27 minimally verbal children, aged three to five, for a year. One-third no longer met the minimally verbal criteria at the end of the study. In this sample, only one factor predicted language progress, which was the child’s initial speech skills (the number of different speech sounds that the child made during an interaction). This finding adds to the evidence that speech skills contribute to language development in autism. In some cases, persistent and severe expressive language difficulties may reflect an additional deficit in speech production, rather than a consequence of core autism features. Implications for practice, research or policy Our findings suggest that there are factors other than social skills that influence language development in autism. Careful assessment of speech production should be considered when language does not develop as expected. Future research should evaluate speech skills interventions for minimally verbal autistic individuals, as well as promoting the use of alternative communication systems.

show abstract

Section: Confirmatory Analysesmentioning

confidence: 61%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does phonetic repertoire in minimally verbal autistic preschoolers predict the severity of later expressive language impairment?

Saul

Norbury

2020

Autism

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Autism spectrum disorder is a neurodevelopmental disorder commonly associated with verbal and communicative dysfunctions (Mcdaniel et al, 2018). In three studies identified in this review, alteration of language task-related coherence was associated with ASD (Righi et al, 2014;Kovelman et al, 2015;Mamashli et al, 2017).…”

Section: Results From Coherence In Clinical Populationmentioning

confidence: 87%

Functional Brain Connectivity of Language Functions in Children Revealed by EEG and MEG: A Systematic Review

Gaudet

Hüsser

Vannasing

et al. 2020

Front. Hum. Neurosci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…Echolalia was also tracked during the reading of the e-books and during the question periods, as it can indicate engagement and verbal language development (Charlop, 1983; McDaniel et al, 2018). Echolalia was recorded in ‘instances’ and not duration; one instance was defined as 15 seconds or more of the echolalic behavior; a break for three or more seconds was required before another instance could be counted.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

E-books for children with autism: Best read alone or with a therapist?

Soares

Miller

Ciffone

et al. 2020

Child Language Teaching and Therapy

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) seemingly prefer tablets to other methods of intervention, though professionals posit that a therapist’s presence is beneficial. In this experiment, two unique e-stories were created specifically for children with ASD. Ten children with low- or nonverbal ASD heard each story presented on an iPad; one narrated through the iPad, and one read by a therapist trained in Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA). The within-participants design enabled researchers to measure the individual benefit of each type of story reading. After hearing each book, participants were tested on their comprehension via multiple choice, sequencing, and open-ended questions. Results indicated that the ideal condition for these young children with low- and nonverbal ASD was the therapist-read condition. These findings suggest that simple stories presented on a rewarding platform, with the minimally intrusive assistance of a therapist, provide young, verbally-challenged children with ASD with a foundation for receiving the benefits of shared storybook reading.

show abstract

A meta-analysis of the association between vocalizations and expressive language in children with autism spectrum disorder

Abstract: Young children with ASD demonstrate a strong association between vocalizations and expressive language skills. Future experimental studies should investigate causal relations to guide intervention development.

Cited by 35 publications

References 52 publications

Does phonetic repertoire in minimally verbal autistic preschoolers predict the severity of later expressive language impairment?

Does phonetic repertoire in minimally verbal autistic preschoolers predict the severity of later expressive language impairment?

Functional Brain Connectivity of Language Functions in Children Revealed by EEG and MEG: A Systematic Review

E-books for children with autism: Best read alone or with a therapist?

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About