Early development in autism: How developmental cascades help us understand the emergence of developmental differences

Iverson, Jana M.; West, Kelsey L.; Schneider, Joshua L.; Plate, Samantha; Northrup, Jessie B.; Britsch, Emily Roemer

doi:10.1016/bs.acdb.2022.10.005

Cited by 8 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 77 publications

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“…We should find ways to address motor gaps in children with ASD because motor skills are a foundation for other forms of development such as social communication, cognitive, and behavioral skill development. Through movement skill acquisition, children create opportunities for exploration and interactions with the world and their caregivers who in turn facilitate social communication and cognitive skill development (Iverson et al, 2023). Poor motor skills and a lack of access to motor services directly affects a child’s functional independence and over time leads to motor dislike and physical inactivity as well as lost opportunities for peer social interactions.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Given that DCD-Q has ~85%-92% positive predictive value against standard motor measures such as the Movement Assessment Battery for Children (M-ABC), a valid and reliable measure to determine motor service needs (Green et al, 2009;Miller et al, 2021;Van Damme et al, 2021), it is estimated that ~75%-79% (sample size × 0.88 × (0.85 − 0.9)) of the SPARK sample is most likely in need of PT/RT services. Furthermore, motor skill development is known to have cascading effects on the overall social communication, cognitive, behavioral, and functional skill development of children (Iverson et al, 2023). Taken together, for children with ASD, a lack of motor services/physical activity (PA) or a prioritization of standard of care, sedentary therapies (speech, behavioral, and occupational) will not only negatively impact their overall development and functional skill acquisition but also promotes long-term physical inactivity, motor dislike, and poor physical health/mental well-being and perhaps shortened life expectancy (Bhat, 2020b(Bhat, , 2022Dahlgren et al, 2021;DaWalt et al, 2019;Weir et al, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Fewer children with autism spectrum disorder with motor challenges receive physical and recreational therapies compared to standard therapies: A SPARK data set analysis

Bhat

2023

Autism

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Approximately 85% of children with autism spectrum disorder from the SPARK study receiving standard interventions such as speech-language and occupational therapies. In contrast, only 32%–13% of children with autism spectrum disorder received movement therapies such as physical and recreational therapies, respectively. Little is known about how service receipt changes as a function of children’s motor difficulties. Parents of children with autism spectrum disorder completed online surveys to provide a report of their child’s motor difficulties using the Developmental Coordination Disorder–Questionnaire as well as the various therapies their child received (speech-language therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, applied behavioral analysis, social skill interventions, recreational therapy) by location (at school, privately/in community, or both). While movement therapies (occupational therapy, physical therapy, recreational therapy) increased with increasing motor risk and severity, there continued to be large disparities in physical therapy (37%–55%) and recreational therapy (15%–19%) compared to occupational therapy (85%–92%) across various settings indicating clear unmet needs for specific motor services given that 88.3% of this sample of children with autism spectrum disorder is at risk for motor difficulties/Developmental Coordination Disorder. Developmental Coordination Disorder–Questionnaire fine- and gross-motor subscale scores were fairly comparably affected yet physical therapy/recreational therapy were less received versus occupational therapy. These findings explain the paucity of physical therapy/recreational therapy and physical activity programs for individuals with autism spectrum disorder and the need for movement experts to receive appropriate access and training to work with individuals with autism spectrum disorder. Lay Abstract There are clear disparities in motor services provided to children with autism spectrum disorder (physical and recreational therapies) compared to their standard therapies (speech-language and occupational therapies). Children with autism spectrum disorder need greater access to and funding for motor services (physical and recreational therapies) and physical activity programs. Movement experts including PTs, adapted physical educators, and community exercise/sports coaches/professionals need basic, specialized, and continuing education training to meet the needs of children and adults with autism spectrum disorder not only for providing early developmental and school-based services but also for ensuring appropriate built environments and providing general physical therapy/adapted physical education services as well as physical activity programs.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fewer children with autism spectrum disorder with motor challenges receive physical and recreational therapies compared to standard therapies: A SPARK data set analysis

Bhat

2023

Autism

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“…For example, research indicates that infants later diagnosed with autism demonstrate slower consolidation of new motor skills compared to neurotypical peers (e.g., infants take longer to transition to upright postures like standing and cruising; Leezenbaum & Iverson, 2019). Given that an abundance of time spent moving in the upright position appears to be a feature of neurotypical prewalking behavior, identifying divergence in this domain may provide additional information about early developmental differences in infants with a predisposition for developmental difficulties (see Iverson et al., 2022). The longitudinal descriptions of developmental pathways presented here suggest a critical need for researchers and clinicians to consider individual differences when drawing conclusions about developmental outcomes and the potential translational impact of basic science for early intervention.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Group Averages Versus Individual Differencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Equifinality in infancy: The many paths to walking

Schneider

Iverson

2023

Developmental Psychobiology

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Many different pathways can lead to the same result or developmental outcome. What are the developmental routes that result in the onset of walking? In this longitudinal study, we documented patterns of infant locomotion during everyday activities at home for 30 prewalking infants. Using a milestone-based design, we focused on observations spanning the two months before the onset of walking (M age at walk onset = 11.98 months, SD = 1.27). We examined how much time infants spent in motion and when they moved, whether they were more likely to do so while prone (crawling) or upright with support (cruising or supported walking). Results showed immense variability in infants' practice regimes en route to walking-some infants spent relatively similar amounts of time crawling, cruising, and supported walking at each session, others preferred one method of travel over the alternatives, and some switched between different types of locomotion from session to session. In general, however, infants spent a larger share of their movement time in upright positions compared to prone. Finally, our densely sampled dataset revealed a clear feature of locomotor development: infants follow many distinct and variable paths to walk onset, regardless of the age at which it is attained.

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“…By following 192 autistic children between age 2 and 19, Pickles, Anderson, and Lord (2014) found several language trajectories that became stable mostly by the school-age period. The authors of this study pointed towards the importance of examining language trajectories during the preschool period since environment (e.g., early intervention) and brain plasticity might greatly impact language development (Iverson et al 2023;Werker and Hensch 2015). Although the reviewed studies brought invaluable understanding of early autistic language trajectories, their sample sizes (except for Pickles et al) greatly limit the identi cation of subtle clusters using data-driven approaches (Dalmaijer, Nord, and Astle 2022).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Early trajectories and moderators of autistic language phenotypes: a longitudinal study in preschoolers

Latrèche*,

Godel*,

Franchini

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Language difficulties in autism emerge early and significantly impact social functioning and quality of life. Despite their wide heterogeneity, autistic language abilities can be parsed into three distinct phenotypes. Language Unimpaired (LU) exhibit near-typical verbal performance, Language Impaired (LI) show significant alterations in language structure, and Minimally Verbal (MV) display limited verbal abilities. However, little is known about the early trajectories and moderators specific to each phenotype. Here, we used a longitudinal sample of 286 preschoolers with autism and 85 typically developing (aged 1.5–5.7 y.o.), yielding 1164 visits. Our cluster analysis replicated the three well-established autistic language phenotypes (LU, n = 86; LI, n = 85; MV, n = 44) and revealed their specific early trajectories. At age 2.5, LU could be identified by their higher general cognition compared to the other phenotypes, while MV were characterized by a major delay in non-verbal cognition. Moreover, the presence of early stereotyped language specifically predicted LU’s later verbal performance, while LI language outcome was improved by early behavioral intervention. In conclusion, we provided a fine-grained description of early trajectories and moderators of autistic language phenotypes in a longitudinal sample exposed to French language, paving the way toward personalized medicine to autistic language difficulties. *The authors would like to note that Kenza Latrèche and Michel Godel contributed equally to the study.

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Early development in autism: How developmental cascades help us understand the emergence of developmental differences

Cited by 8 publications

References 77 publications

Fewer children with autism spectrum disorder with motor challenges receive physical and recreational therapies compared to standard therapies: A SPARK data set analysis

Fewer children with autism spectrum disorder with motor challenges receive physical and recreational therapies compared to standard therapies: A SPARK data set analysis

Equifinality in infancy: The many paths to walking

Early trajectories and moderators of autistic language phenotypes: a longitudinal study in preschoolers

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