Predictors of Pragmatic Communication in School-Age Siblings of Children with ASD and Low-Risk Controls

Greenslade, Kathryn J.; Utter, Elizabeth A.; Landa, Rebecca

doi:10.1007/s10803-018-3837-x

Cited by 25 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…These developmental vulnerabilities, if untreated, could cascade into developmental challenges later in life. For example, reduced levels of IJA and expressive language functioning at ages 14 and 24 months, respectively, are predictive of pragmatic communication difficulties during adolescence (Greenslade et al, 2019). These findings may provide useful guidance for primary care providers’ decision-making related to early intervention referrals.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Since joint attention limitations are often observed in young children with ASD (Mundy, Sigman, & Kasari, 1994) and joint attention skills strongly predict early language development (Baldwin, 1995) and later pragmatic communication skills (Greenslade, Utter, & Landa, 2019), we examined 14-month initiation of joint attention (IJA) behavior in post hoc analyses. In preparation for such analyses, a composite variable was created for IJA using the sum of 14-month ADOS ratings from three items: Initiation of Joint Attention , Showing , and Giving .…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Early behavioral profiles elucidating vulnerability and resiliency to later ASD outcomes

et al. 2020

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Infant siblings of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) exhibit greater heterogeneity in behavioral presentation and outcomes relative to infants at low familial risk (LR), yet there is limited understanding of the diverse developmental profiles that characterize these infants. We applied a hierarchical agglomerative cluster analysis approach to parse developmental heterogeneity in 420 toddlers with heightened (HR) and low (LR) familial risk for ASD using measures of four dimensions of development: language, social, play, and restricted and repetitive behaviors (RRB). Results revealed a two-cluster solution. Comparisons of clusters revealed significantly lower language, social, and play performance, and higher levels of restricted and repetitive behaviors in Cluster 1 relative to Cluster 2. In Cluster 1, 25% of children were later diagnosed with ASD compared to 8% in Cluster 2. Comparisons within Cluster 1 between subgroups of toddlers having ASD+ versus ASD− 36-month outcomes revealed significantly lower functioning in the ASD+ subgroup across cognitive, motor, social, language, symbolic, and speech dimensions. Findings suggest profiles of early development associated with resiliency and vulnerability to later ASD diagnosis, with multidimensional developmental lags signaling vulnerability to ASD diagnosis.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Early behavioral profiles elucidating vulnerability and resiliency to later ASD outcomes

et al. 2020

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“…While core language skills and inferential skills are related (in our CFA, they were correlated at 0.55), the indication that a two rather than a one factor structure underpins performance on our test battery suggests that these two sets of skills are partially dissociable in the general population. This would be expected based on the small amount of evidence that core language predicts some of the variance in pragmatic language skills both cross-sectionally ( Volden et al (2009); Whyte & Nelson (2015)) and longitudinally ( Bernard & Deleau, 2007; Greenslade et al , 2019; Hale & Tager-Flusberg, 2005; Miniscalco et al ., 2014). However, these are separable domains.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

"If you catch my drift...": ability to infer implied meaning is distinct from vocabulary and grammar skills

Wilson¹,

Bishop²

2019

Wellcome Open Res

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Background: Some individuals with autism find it challenging to use and understand language in conversation, despite having good abilities in core aspects of language such as grammar and vocabulary. This suggests that pragmatic skills (such as understanding implied meanings in conversation) are separable from core language skills. However, it has been surprisingly difficult to demonstrate this dissociation in the general population. We propose that this may be because prior studies have used tasks in which different aspects of language are confounded. Methods: The present study used novel language tasks and factor analysis to test whether pragmatic understanding of implied meaning, as part of a broader domain involving social understanding, is separable from core language skills. 120 adult participants were recruited online to complete a 7-task battery, including a test assessing comprehension of conversational implicature. Results: In confirmatory analysis of a preregistered model, we compared whether the data showed better fit to a two-factor structure (including a “social understanding” and “core language” factor) or a simpler one-factor structure (comprising a general factor). The two-factor model showed significantly better fit. Conclusions: This study supports the view that interpreting context-dependent conversational meaning is partially distinct from core language skills. This has implications for understanding the pragmatic language impairments reported in autism.

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“…A major clinical implication of findings reported by Landa and Kalb (2012) is that ongoing intervention targeting social and communication impairments of ASD is needed after early intervention. Furthermore, a recent report from our team (Greenslade et al, 2019) suggests that intervention for core ASD social and communication impairments will be needed at least through adolescence. That report showed that children with ASD diagnosis rigorously documented at age 3 years exhibited pragmatic communication impairment 5-9 years later (Greenslade et al, 2019).…”

Section: Child Gainsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Furthermore, a recent report from our team (Greenslade et al, 2019) suggests that intervention for core ASD social and communication impairments will be needed at least through adolescence. That report showed that children with ASD diagnosis rigorously documented at age 3 years exhibited pragmatic communication impairment 5-9 years later (Greenslade et al, 2019).…”

Section: Child Gainsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Early Achievements for Education Settings: An Embedded Teacher-Implemented Social Communication Intervention for Preschoolers With Autism Spectrum Disorder

2020

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Purpose Early Achievements for Education Settings (EA-ES) is a teacher-implemented naturalistic developmental behavioral intervention for preschoolers with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) targeting core social communication impairments. The purpose of this pilot randomized controlled clinical trial (RCT) was to examine promise of efficacy of this iteratively developed intervention when implemented in authentic education settings. We examined (1a) whether a high level of implementation fidelity was attained by EA-ES trained teachers and (1b) whether their fidelity attainment differed from that of untrained teachers; and (2) whether the EA-ES intervention showed promise of improving child social, communication, and cognitive outcomes as determined by within- and between-group comparisons of children in EA-ES classrooms and children in classrooms randomized to the business as usual condition. Method Participants included six preschool teachers and 43 eligible preschoolers with ASD. Classrooms were randomized to EA-ES or business as usual. Analyses of intervention effects using baseline and postintervention data were conducted on teachers' fidelity of EA-ES implementation and children's performance on a proximal measure of social and communication behavior and on a distal standardized measure of verbal and nonverbal functioning. Results Teachers trained to implement EA-ES attained a high level of implementation fidelity, with significantly greater gains compared to untrained teachers. Children receiving EA-ES showed significantly greater gain from baseline to postintervention in frequency of produced initiation of joint attention and nonverbal cognitive functioning compared to children in business-as-usual classrooms. A trend toward significance for Group × Time effects was detected for frequency of spontaneous verbalizations produced, favoring the EA-ES group. Conclusions EA-ES shows promise of feasibility for teacher implementation in group contexts and for improving social communication and cognitive skills in preschoolers with ASD. Implications of results for future research and speech-language pathologist–teacher collaboration to increase language intervention dosage are discussed.

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Predictors of Pragmatic Communication in School-Age Siblings of Children with ASD and Low-Risk Controls

Cited by 25 publications

References 48 publications

Early behavioral profiles elucidating vulnerability and resiliency to later ASD outcomes

Early behavioral profiles elucidating vulnerability and resiliency to later ASD outcomes

"If you catch my drift...": ability to infer implied meaning is distinct from vocabulary and grammar skills

Early Achievements for Education Settings: An Embedded Teacher-Implemented Social Communication Intervention for Preschoolers With Autism Spectrum Disorder

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