Early social communication development in infants with autism spectrum disorder

Abstract

Social‐communication differences are a robust and defining feature of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) but identifying early points of divergence in infancy has been a challenge. The current study examines social communication in 9‐ to 12‐month‐old infants who develop ASD (N = 30; 23% female; 70% white) compared to typically developing (TD) infants (N = 94, 38% female; 88% white). Results demonstrate that infants later diagnosed with ASD were already exhibiting fewer social‐communication skills using eye gaze, facial expression, gestures, and sounds at 9 months (effect size: 0.42–0.89). Moreover, three unique patterns of change across distinct social‐communication skills were observed within the ASD group. This study documents that observable social‐communication differences for infants with ASD are unfolding by 9 months, pointing to a critical window for targeted intervention.

Neurodevelopmental delay up to the age of 4 years in infants born to women with gestational diabetes mellitus: The Japan Environment and Children's Study

“…Its symptoms commonly emerge between 12 and 24 months‐of‐age 34 . Furthermore, the initial symptoms of autism are deficits in social 35 and fine motor skills 36 , whereas delayed communication skills can be one of the subsequent symptoms. The present study showed that GDM was likely to be a risk factor for ASD development.…”

The Effects of Prenatal Diagnosis on the Interaction of the Mother–Infant Dyad: A Longitudinal Study of Prenatal Care in the First Year of Life

“… Colonnesi et al (2012) state that the direction of the eyes and the performance of expressive movements and vocalizations are the first ways in which the baby communicates emotionally. Bradshaw et al (2021) show that differences in social communication are a defining and robust characteristic of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). More specifically, Bradshaw et al (2021) show that typical babies usually combine their vocalizations with a gaze toward the parents, while babies that were ulterior diagnosed with ASD were less prone to do so.…”

“… Bradshaw et al (2021) show that differences in social communication are a defining and robust characteristic of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). More specifically, Bradshaw et al (2021) show that typical babies usually combine their vocalizations with a gaze toward the parents, while babies that were ulterior diagnosed with ASD were less prone to do so.…”

The mountain stream of infant development

“…Mothers talk about infants' actions: How verbs correspond to infants' real-time behavior. Developmental Psychology, 58(3), 405. elevated likelihood of later ASD diagnosis show difficulties in attention orienting, tracking, disengaging, and shifting (particularly to eyes, faces, and objects) relative to typical likelihood infants (Bradshaw et al, 2020(Bradshaw et al, , 2021. They also show altered sleep patterns that may affect modulation of arousal and indicate atypical brain development (MacDuffie et al, 2020).…”

“…However, such behaviors are not reliably observed until after infants' first year, prompting consideration of behaviors in other domains—including attention and sleep—that may inform early diagnosis (Bradshaw et al., 2022). For example, infants with an elevated likelihood of later ASD diagnosis show difficulties in attention orienting, tracking, disengaging, and shifting (particularly to eyes, faces, and objects) relative to typical likelihood infants (Bradshaw et al., 2020, 2021). They also show altered sleep patterns that may affect modulation of arousal and indicate atypical brain development (MacDuffie et al., 2020).…”