Vocal Patterns in Infants with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Canonical Babbling Status and Vocalization Frequency

Abstract

Canonical babbling is a critical milestone for speech development and is usually well in place by 10 months. The possibility that infants with ASD show late onset of canonical babbling has so far eluded evaluation. Rate of vocalization or “volubility” has also been suggested as possibly aberrant in infants with ASD. We conducted a retrospective video study examining vocalizations of 37 infants at 9–12 and 15–18 months. Twenty-three of the 37 infants were later diagnosed with ASD and indeed produced low rates of canonical babbling and low volubility by comparison with the 14 typically developing infants. The study thus supports suggestions that very early vocal patterns may prove to be a useful component of early screening and diagnosis of ASD.

Vocalization Rate and Consonant Production in Toddlers at High and Low Risk for Autism

“…The lower speechlike vocalization rate for HRA+ toddlers is consistent with previous research (Patten et al, 2014;Paul et al, 2011;Plumb & Wetherby, 2013;Schoen et al, 2011;Warlaumont et al, 2014). The current study Figure 3.…”

“…One framework in which we might interpret these findings is the social feedback loop, proposed in Warlaumont et al (2014) and Patten et al (2014). Under this view, infants' speech production is shaped by caregiver responses, as demonstrated by work showing that infants who receive contingent feedback to their babbles restructure them to include phonological patterns from their caregivers' speech, whereas infants who receive noncontingent feedback do not (Goldstein & Schwade, 2008).…”

“…Instead, delays were specific to acquisition of age-appropriate consonant sounds during the first year of life. Patten et al (2014) also prospectively studied 37 infants, 23 of whom were later diagnosed with ASD, examining vocalizations at 9-12 and at 15-18 months of age. The ASD group vocalized significantly less often than the non-ASD group at both ages, and produced a lower proportion of canonical syllables (which contain consonant onsets) than the non-ASD group.…”

What can autism teach us about the role of sensorimotor systems in higher cognition? New clues from studies on language, action semantics, and abstract emotional concept processing

“…First words are almost universally delayed in autistic children (Howlin (2003) puts the delay at on average 38 months), and babbling and first vocalisations are significantly reduced at ages 9e12, 15e18 and 16e36 months (Patten et al, 2014;Plumb & Wetherby, 2013;Schoen, Paul, & Chawarska, 2011;Warren et al, 2010). Given the importance of early vocalisations for building sensorimotor links, this may offer some explanation for the early language and babbling deficits of ASC; although, notably, 11 Though we do recognise changes to nosology: DSM-IV (APA, 2000) had a three-factor model specifying impairments in the domains of 'social interaction', 'communication' (involving language criteria) and restricted and repetitive behaviours and interests, but DSM-5 combines the first two factors into a single factor called 'social communication'.…”

Inducing Novel Vocalizations by Conditioning Speech Sounds as Reinforcers

“…vowels, with rapid transition between consonant and vowel as in adult speech. Retrospective analyses of home videos of infants and toddlers later diagnosed with ASD reveal lower rates of vocalizations and lower rates of canonical babbling than in typically developing infants (Patten et al 2014). For children who do not communicate vocally, low rates of speech sound production may be an obstacle to successful intervention, as the clinician may have difficulty identifying specific speech sounds that occur with sufficient regularity to be reinforced and brought under stimulus control.…”