Brief report: parental child-directed speech as a predictor of receptive language in children with autism symptomatology

J Autism Dev Disord. 2013 Aug;43(8):1983-7. doi: 10.1007/s10803-012-1725-3.

Abstract

Facilitative linguistic input directly connected to children's interest and focus of attention has become a recommended component of interventions for young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This longitudinal correlational study used two assessment time points and examined the association between parental undemanding topic-continuing talk related to the child's attentional focus (i.e., follow-in comments) and later receptive language for 37 parent-child dyads with their young (mean = 21 months, range 15-24 months) children with autism symptomology. The frequency of parental follow-in comments positively predicted later receptive language after considering children's joint attention skills and previous receptive language abilities.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Attention
  • Autistic Disorder / diagnosis
  • Autistic Disorder / psychology*
  • Child, Preschool
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Infant
  • Language Tests
  • Language*
  • Longitudinal Studies
  • Male
  • Parent-Child Relations*
  • Parents / psychology*
  • Predictive Value of Tests
  • Psychological Tests
  • Speech