Infant vocalizing and phenotypic outcomes in autism: Evidence from the first 2 years

Plate, Samantha; Yankowitz, Lisa; Resorla, Leslie; Swanson, Meghan R.; Meera, Shoba Sreenath; Estes, Annette; Marrus, Natasha; Cola, Meredith; Petrulla, Victoria; Faggen, Aubrey; Pandey, Juhi; Paterson, Sarah; Pruett, John R.; Hazlett, Heather C.; Dager, Stephen R.; John, Tanya St.; Botteron, Kelly N.; Zwaigenbaum, Lonnie; Piven, Joseph; Schultz, Robert T.; Parish‐Morris, Julia

doi:10.1111/cdev.13697

Cited by 12 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 106 publications

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“…For example, when compared to ER infants with ASD, ER infants without ASD show greater social reciprocity, positive affect, attentiveness, and vocalizations during social interactions (Wan et al, 2019). A recent study by Plate et al (2022) found that ER infants without ASD experienced steeper growth in vocalization production between 6 and 24 months when compared to both ER infants with ASD and LR infants. These traits may elicit better quantity and quality of language from parents, regardless of their education level.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Early predictors of language skills at 3 years of age vary based on diagnostic outcome: A baby siblings research consortium study

et al. 2022

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While previous work has identified the early predictors of language skills in infants at elevated familial risk (ER) and low familial risk (LR) for autism spectrum disorder (ASD), no studies to date have explored whether these predictors vary based on diagnostic outcome of ASD or no ASD. The present study used a large, multisite dataset to examine associations between a set of commonly studied predictor variables (infant gesture abilities, fine motor skills, nonverbal cognition, and maternal education level), measured at 12 months, and language skills, measured at 3 years, across three diagnostic outcome groups-infants with ASD ("ASD"), ER infants without ASD ("ER-no ASD"), and LR infants without ASD ("LR-no ASD"). Findings revealed that the predictors of language skills differed across groups, as gesture abilities were positively associated with language skills in the ER-no ASD group but negatively associated with language skills in the ASD group. Furthermore, maternal education level was positively associated with language skills in the ASD and LR-no ASD groups only. Variability in these early predictors may help explain why language skills are heterogeneous across the autism spectrum, and, with further study, may help clinicians identify those in need of additional and/or specialized intervention services that support language development.Lay Summary: The present study identified predictors of language skills in infants with and without autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Maternal education level and 12-month gesture abilities predicted 3-year language skills in infants with ASD. Measuring these predictors early in life may help identify infants and families in need of additional and/or specialized intervention services that support language development.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Early predictors of language skills at 3 years of age vary based on diagnostic outcome: A baby siblings research consortium study

et al. 2022

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“…This trend seems to be recovered in subsequent items (second and third years), in relation to the greater interest in visuo‐perceptual processing and activities compared to the verbal ones, facilitating compensation strategies that favor learning and success in tasks mediated by visual‐perceptual support, not requiring direct and constant interaction with the examiner. It has been widely described that social and communication concerns for children with suspected ASD become evident very early during development, between 12 and 18 months of age (Salgado‐Cacho et al, 2021; Plate et al, 2022), with some early signs also before (Chericoni et al, 2016; Davidovitch et al, 2018) and are the target of early intervention to at‐risk infants. On the other hand, children with ASD notably benefit by the presentation of visual support during cognitive performances (Samson et al, 2012); moreover, relative strengths in visuo‐spatial and abstract reasoning and visual working memory have been described in children with ASD at different ages as a possible specific marker of their intellectual functioning (Audras‐Torrent et al, 2021; Mouga et al, 2020).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Developmental profiles of young children with autism spectrum disorder and global developmental delay: A study with the GriffithsIIIscales

et al. 2023

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The purpose of this study was to identify developmental profiles associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and global developmental delay (DD) in pre‐school aged Italian children. Developmental profiles were evaluated by means of a standardized tool widely used for the assessment of psychomotor development in early childhood, the Griffiths III scales, recently adapted and standardized for the Italian population. Specifically, we compared the Griffiths III profiles of children with ASD and DD (ASD + DD) with those of children with DD alone. Moreover, we inspected the psychometric function of single items by comparing children with ASD + DD and children with DD with typically developing (TD) children from the Griffiths III normative sample. In this way, we aimed to isolate the effects of each diagnostic class on psychomotor abilities and on the psychometric function of single items. The ASD + DD and DD groups were found to share the presence of lower age equivalent scores relative to their chronological age in all the developmental domains considered: Foundations of Learning, Language and Communication, Eye and Hand Coordination, Personal–Social‐Emotional and Gross Motor Skills. However, the DD group displayed a homogeneous profile with similar levels of delay in all developmental domains, while children with ASD + DD exhibited relative weaknesses in the Language and Communication and Personal–Social‐Emotional scales. The analysis of the psychometric function drawn for each item has confirmed different profiles in social‐communicative and non‐verbal items between the two diagnostic groups and in relation to TD normative sample. The Griffiths III is a valid psychometric tool for identifying atypical developmental profiles and its use may be recommended during the diagnostic process of ASD and DD, to detect specific strengths and weaknesses and guide person‐centered treatment.

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“…At 12 months, the CSBS was selected for annotation if it was completed and available. The CSBS was selected because it is longer than the AOSI and thus provides more data, and also to facilitate longitudinal comparisons with vocalizations produced at 24 months during the CSBS as part of a larger coding effort [ 51 ]. If a CSBS was not available (due to recording failure or the missing/incomplete administration), the AOSI was used.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Rater training included a presentation on the coding pipeline, a requirement that raters establish greater than 80% agreement on a set of gold-standard training reliability files, and a requirement to attend periodic reliability meetings. This pipeline is described further in [ 51 ].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Infants later diagnosed with autism have lower canonical babbling ratios in the first year of life

et al. 2022

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Background Canonical babbling—producing syllables with a mature consonant, full vowel, and smooth transition—is an important developmental milestone that typically occurs in the first year of life. Some studies indicate delayed or reduced canonical babbling in infants at high familial likelihood for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or who later receive an ASD diagnosis, but evidence is mixed. More refined characterization of babbling in the first year of life in infants with high likelihood for ASD is needed. Methods Vocalizations produced at 6 and 12 months by infants (n = 267) taking part in a longitudinal study were coded for canonical and non-canonical syllables. Infants were categorized as low familial likelihood (LL), high familial likelihood diagnosed with ASD at 24 months (HL-ASD) or not diagnosed (HL-Neg). Language delay was assessed based on 24-month expressive and receptive language scores. Canonical babble ratio (CBR) was calculated by dividing the number of canonical syllables by the number of total syllables. Generalized linear (mixed) models were used to assess the relationship between group membership and CBR, controlling for site, sex, and maternal education. Logistic regression was used to assess whether canonical babbling ratios at 6 and 12 months predict 24-month diagnostic outcome. Results No diagnostic group differences in CBR were detected at 6 months, but HL-ASD infants produced significantly lower CBR than both the HL-Neg and LL groups at 12 months. HL-Neg infants with language delay also showed reduced CBR at 12 months. Neither 6- nor 12-month CBR was significant predictors of 24-month diagnostic outcome (ASD versus no ASD) in logistic regression. Limitations Small numbers of vocalizations produced by infants at 6 months may limit the reliability of CBR estimates. It is not known if results generalize to infants who are not at high familial likelihood, or infants from more diverse racial and socioeconomic backgrounds. Conclusions Lower canonical babbling ratios are apparent by the end of the first year of life in ASD regardless of later language delay, but are also observed for infants with later language delay without ASD. Canonical babbling may lack specificity as an early marker when used on its own.

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Infant vocalizing and phenotypic outcomes in autism: Evidence from the first 2 years

Cited by 12 publications

References 106 publications

Early predictors of language skills at 3 years of age vary based on diagnostic outcome: A baby siblings research consortium study

Early predictors of language skills at 3 years of age vary based on diagnostic outcome: A baby siblings research consortium study

Developmental profiles of young children with autism spectrum disorder and global developmental delay: A study with the GriffithsIIIscales

Infants later diagnosed with autism have lower canonical babbling ratios in the first year of life

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