Neonatal Multisensory Processing in Preterm and Term Infants Predicts Sensory Reactivity and Internalizing Tendencies in Early Childhood.

Multisensory processes include the capacity to combine information from the different senses, often improving stimulus representations and behavior. The extent to which multisensory processes are an innate capacity or instead require experience with environmental stimuli remains debated. We addressed this knowledge gap by studying multisensory processes in prematurely born and full-term infants. We recorded 128-channel event-related potentials (ERPs) from a cohort of 55 full-term and 61 preterm neonates (at an equivalent gestational age) in response to auditory, somatosensory, and combined auditory-somatosensory multisensory stimuli. Data were analyzed within an electrical neuroimaging framework, involving unsupervised topographic clustering of the ERP data. Multisensory processing in full-term infants was characterized by a simple linear summation of responses to auditory and somatosensory stimuli alone, which furthermore shared common ERP topographic features. We refer to the ERP topography observed in full-term infants as "typical infantile processing" (TIP). In stark contrast, preterm infants exhibited non-linear responses and topographies less-often characterized by TIP; there were distinct patterns of ERP topographies to multisensory and summed unisensory conditions. We further observed that the better TIP characterized an infant's ERPs, independently of prematurity, the more typical was the score on the Infant/Toddler Sensory Profile (ITSP) at 12 months of age and the less likely was the child to the show internalizing tendencies at 24 months of age. Collectively, these results highlight striking differences in the brain's responses to multisensory stimuli in children born prematurely; differences that relate to later sensory and internalizing functions.

Kinematic and Somatosensory Gains in Infants with Cerebral Palsy After a Multi-Component Upper-Extremity Intervention: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Upper extremity (UE) impairments in infants with cerebral palsy (CP) result from reduced quality of motor experiences and "noisy" sensory inputs. We hypothesized that a neuroscience-based multi-component intervention would improve somatosensory processing and motor measures of more-affected (UEs) in infants with CP and asymmetric UE neurologic impairments, while remaining safe for less-affected UEs. Our randomized controlled trial compared infants (6-24 months) with CP receiving intervention (N = 37) versus a waitlisted group (N = 36). Treatment effects tested a direct measurement of reach smoothness (3D-kinematics), a measure of unimanual fine motor function (Bayley unimanual fine motor raw scores), and EEG measures of cortical somatosensory processing. The four-week therapist-directed, parent-administered intervention included daily (1) bimanual play; (2) less-affected UE wearing soft-constraint (6 h/day, electronically-monitored); (3) reach training on more-affected UE; (4) graduated motor-sensory training; and (5) parent education. Waitlist infants received only bimanual play. Effectiveness and safety were tested; z-scores from 54 posttest-matched typically-developing infants provided benchmarks for treatment effects. Intervention and waitlist infants had no pretest differences. Median weekly constraint wear was 38 h; parent-treatment fidelity averaged > 92%. On the more affected side, the intervention significantly increased smoothness of reach (Cohen's d = - 0.90; p < .001) and unimanual fine motor skill (d = 0.35; p = .004). Using unadjusted p values, intervention improved somatosensory processing (d = 0.53; p = .04). All intervention effects referenced well to typically developing children. Safety of the intervention was demonstrated through positive- or non-effects on measurements involving the constrained, less-affected UE and gross motor function; unexpected treatment effects on reach smoothness occurred in less-affected UEs (d = - 0.85; p = .01). This large clinical trial demonstrated intervention effectiveness and safety for developing sensory and motor systems with improvements in reach smoothness, and developmental abilities.Clinical Trail Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02567630, registered October 5, 2015.

Sequential Associations Between Caregiver Talk and Child Play in Autism Spectrum Disorder and Typical Development.

This study examined sequential associations between child play and caregiver talk in 98 caregiver-child dyads (Mmental age  = 14 months). Fifty dyads included a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Analyses revealed sequential associations between child play and caregiver follow-in (FI) utterances (utterances related to the child's attentional focus) were stronger in the ASD as compared to the typically developing (TD) group. FI utterances were more likely to elicit functional play than caregiver-focused utterances, and more so in the ASD group. Across groups, FI directives were more likely to elicit functional play than FI comments. These findings have important implications for research involving caregiver-child play as an early intervention context for children with ASD.

Pursuing Precision Speech-Language Therapy Services for Children with Down Syndrome.

The behavioral phenotype of individuals with Down syndrome (DS) offers one avenue for developing speech-language therapy services that are tailored to the individual's characteristics that affect treatment response. Behavioral phenotypes are patterns of behavioral strengths and weaknesses for specific genetic disorders that can help guide the development and implementation of effective interventions. Nonetheless, individual differences within children with DS must be acknowledged and addressed because behavioral phenotypes are probabilistic, not deterministic. Developing precision speech-language therapy services to maximize learning opportunities and outcomes for children with DS calls for increased collaboration among clinicians and researchers to address the needs, challenges, and opportunities on three interconnected themes: (1) moving effective interventions from research to practice, (2) making evidence-based, child-specific treatment intensity decisions, and (3) considering child motivation and temperament characteristics. Increased availability of intervention materials and resources as well as more specific recommendations that acknowledge individual differences could help narrow the research-practice gap. Clear descriptions of disciplined manipulations of treatment intensity components could lead to more effective intervention services. Last, addressing motivation and temperament characteristics, such as the personality-motivation orientation, in children with DS may help maximize learning opportunities. Focused attention and collaboration on these key themes could produce substantial, positive changes for children with DS and their families in the coming decade.

The relative accuracy and interpretability of five sequential analysis methods: A simulation study.

A variety of sequential analysis methods exist to quantify close temporal associations between events from direct observation data. In the present study, we compared the relative accuracy and interpretability of five sequential-analysis methods using simulated data. The methods included three existing approaches (event lag, concurrent interval, and time window) and two proposed modifications of the event lag approach (event lag with contiguous pauses and event lag with noncontiguous pauses) designed to address limitations of the existing approaches. We evaluated accuracy on the basis of the extent to which the mean contingency estimates produced by each method approximated a known mean (i.e., zero). We evaluated interpretability on the basis of the extent to which the contingency estimates produced by each method were independent from chance estimates of the two-event sequence. The results indicated that the event lag with contiguous pauses method produced the most accurate and interpretable estimates of contingency. This modified method prevents the total number of event types from influencing contingency estimates, thus solving a problem associated with the traditional event lag method.

Musical rhythm discrimination explains individual differences in grammar skills in children.

This study considered a relation between rhythm perception skills and individual differences in phonological awareness and grammar abilities, which are two language skills crucial for academic achievement. Twenty-five typically developing 6-year-old children were given standardized assessments of rhythm perception, phonological awareness, morpho-syntactic competence, and non-verbal cognitive ability. Rhythm perception accounted for 48% of the variance in morpho-syntactic competence after controlling for non-verbal IQ, socioeconomic status, and prior musical activities. Children with higher phonological awareness scores were better able to discriminate complex rhythms than children with lower scores, but not after controlling for IQ. This study is the first to show a relation between rhythm perception skills and morpho-syntactic production in children with typical language development. These findings extend the literature showing substantial overlap of neurocognitive resources for processing music and language. A video abstract of this article can be viewed at: http://youtu.be/_lO692qHDNg.

How to Study the Influence of Intensity of Treatment on Generalized Skill and Knowledge Acquisition in Students with Disabilities.

Seven empirical studies from this special issue and an overview chapter are reviewed to illustrate several points about studying the possible effects of treatment intensity manipulations on generalized skill or knowledge acquisition in students with disabilities. First, we make a case in favor of studying intensity as separate from complexity and expense of treatment. Second, we encourage researchers to define dependent variables in a way that allows us to determine whether treatment intensity effects on child skills and knowledge are highly generalized versus potentially context bound. Third, we acknowledge that effects of treatment intensity on generalized knowledge and skills likely vary according to student characteristics. Finally, we discuss important research design and measurement issues that are relevant to isolating the likely conditional effects of treatment intensity on generalized outcomes.

Developmental associations between joint engagement and autistic children's vocabulary: A cross-lagged panel analysis.

LAY ABSTRACT: In this study, we used a cross-lagged panel analysis to examine correlations over time between two types of engagement between children and their parents and children's later expressive and receptive vocabularies. This kind of design can help researchers understand which early developmental achievements "drive" later developmental achievements. It is important for intervention researchers to know which developmental achievements happen first, so that they can set intervention goals appropriately. The two joint engagement variables we examined were (a) higher order supported joint engagement, which occurs when caregivers influence their child's play with toys and the child reciprocally responds to the caregiver, but does not manage the interaction by shifting gaze between the toys and the caregiver, and (b) higher order supported joint engagement that co-occurs with caregiver's follow-in talk (higher order supported joint engagement + follow-in). Follow-in talk occurs when the caregiver talks about objects and events that the child is focused on. Ninety-one autistic children (n = 91) with language delay (mean chronological age = 39 months) participated, along with their primary caregivers. Each of the four variables was measured twice, 8 months apart. Our statistical procedures showed that early higher order supported joint engagement and early higher order supported joint engagement + follow-in were significantly associated with later expressive and receptive vocabulary. In contrast, associations between early vocabulary variables and later joint engagement variables were not significant. Our results suggest that higher order supported joint engagement and higher order supported joint engagement + follow-in may be useful initial intervention targets, for developmental interventions aimed at promoting language development in autistic children who are initially language delayed.

Parent utilization of ImPACT intervention strategies is a mediator of proximal then distal social communication outcomes in younger siblings of children with ASD.

LAY ABSTRACT: Later born siblings of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are at elevated risk for language delay or ASD. One way to manage this risk may be for parents to use techniques taught in Improving Parents as Communication Teachers (ImPACT) with the younger siblings during the period in which language delay and ASD may be too subtle to be diagnosed. ImPACT targets children's play, imitation, and communication skills. Improvement in these skills may reduce the severity of language delays and social communication deficits associated with ASD. In this study, 97 younger siblings of children with ASD and their primary parents were randomly assigned to ImPACT or a control group. We measured whether parents used ImPACT teaching strategies and whether children used the skills that ImPACT targets. We also measured children's later language ability and social communication skills. The results confirmed our predictions that parents' use of ImPACT strategies improves language ability by improving children's motor imitation and communication skills. Use of ImPACT also had a positive effect on children's language delay and ASD symptoms, supporting the clinical value of the findings. The study's methodological strengths make this one of the most rigorous tests of ImPACT and supports one way to manage the risk of language delay and ASD in younger siblings of children with ASD.

For which younger siblings of children with autism spectrum disorder does parent-mediated intervention work?

LAY ABSTRACT: In this second of two primary papers, we examined two pre-intervention characteristics that might describe for whom a parent-implemented intervention, "Improving Parents As Communication Teachers," worked. Investigators randomized 97 high-risk siblings and their primary parent to either the Improving Parents As Communication Teachers or control group, used intent-to-treat analysis, and used assessors and coders who were blinded to group assignment. We predicted that a combined risk score (incorporating young siblings' sex, multiplex status, and behavioral risk) would describe the subgroup for whom Improving Parents As Communication Teachers affected the targeted skills related to reducing communication challenges. We also predicted that pre-intervention level of parents' depressive symptoms would describe the parents whose parenting stress and effectiveness as parents would be improved by learning to use Improving Parents As Communication Teachers. In girls with only one older sibling with autism spectrum disorder and who scored at low risk on an autism spectrum disorder screen, parental receipt of Improving Parents As Communication Teachers training had an indirect effect on children's expressive language ability or autism spectrum disorder diagnosis through earlier effects on high-risk siblings' intentional communication or expressive vocabulary. We did not confirm our prediction regarding Improving Parents As Communication Teachers' effect on parenting-related stress or sense of parenting effectiveness.

Predicting Reading Growth with Event-Related Potentials: Thinking Differently about Indexing "Responsiveness"

The purpose of this study was to determine if event-related potential (ERP) data collected during three reading-related tasks (Letter Sound Matching, Nonword Rhyming, and Nonword Reading) could be used to predict short-term reading growth on a curriculum-based measure of word identification fluency over 19 weeks in a sample of 29 first-grade children. Results indicate that ERP responses to the Letter Sound Matching task were predictive of reading change and remained so after controlling for two previously validated behavioral predictors of reading, Rapid Letter Naming and Segmenting. ERP data for the other tasks were not correlated with reading change. The potential for cognitive neuroscience to enhance current methods of indexing responsiveness in a response-to-intervention (RTI) model is discussed.

Protocol and Feasibility-Randomized Trial of Telehealth Delivery for a Multicomponent Upper Extremity Intervention in Infants With Asymmetric Cerebral Palsy.

BACKGROUND: Past work showed that an in-person, therapist-guided, parent-implemented multicomponent intervention increased the motor functioning of the more affected upper extremity (UE) in infants with asymmetric cerebral palsy. The authors document treatment fidelity and provide initial testing of telehealth intervention delivery in a new subject sample. METHODS: The authors adapted the intervention manual used in the previous trial for telehealth. Infants (6-24 months) were randomly assigned to intervention (n = 7) or waitlist (n = 6). The intervention prescribed soft-constraint wear on the less affected UE for 6 hours, 5 d/wk, and exercises. After an initial in-person training session, three 15- to 45-minute telehealth sessions were performed. RESULTS: Median weekly constraint wear was 21 hours (interquartile range = 10.3-29.7); average parent-treatment fidelity was 95.7% (SD 11.2). A significant large (Cohen d = 0.92) between-group differences occurred on fine motor functioning of more affected UEs. CONCLUSION: The telehealth intervention was feasible and potentially effective, but a larger trial is needed to evaluate efficacy.

The Relation Between Early Parent Verb Input and Later Expressive Verb Vocabulary in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Purpose The purpose of this study was to evaluate if higher quantity, diversity, and grammatical informativeness of verb phrases in parent follow-in utterances (i.e., utterances that mapped onto child attentional leads) were significantly related to later expressive verb vocabulary in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Method We examined these associations in a sample of 31 toddlers with ASD and their parents in a longitudinal correlational study. Key aspects of parents' verb input were measured in 2 video-recorded 15-min parent-child free-play sessions. Child expressive verb vocabulary was measured using parent report. Results An aggregate variable composed of the quantity, diversity, and grammatical informativeness of parent verb input in follow-in utterances across the 2 parent-child sessions strongly and positively predicted later child expressive verb vocabulary, total R 2 = .25, even when early child expressive verb vocabulary was controlled, R 2 change = .17. Parent follow-in utterances without verbs were not significantly related to later child expressive verb vocabulary, R 2 = .001. Conclusions These correlational findings are initial steps toward developing a knowledge base for how strong verb vocabulary skills might be facilitated in children with ASD.

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder May Learn from Caregiver Verb Input Better in Certain Engagement States.

The relation between caregiver follow-in utterances with verbs presented in different states of dyadic engagement and later child expressive verb vocabulary in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) was examined in 29 toddlers with ASD and their caregivers. Caregiver verb input in follow-in utterances presented during higher order supported joint engagement (HSJE) accounted for a significant, large amount of variance in later child verb vocabulary; R2= .26. This relation remained significant when controlling for early verb vocabulary or verb input in lower support engagement states. Other types of talk in follow-in utterances in HSJE did not correlate with later verb vocabulary. These findings are an important step towards identifying interactional contexts that facilitate verb learning in children with ASD.

Longitudinal associations across vocabulary modalities in children with autism and typical development.

We examined differences between children with autism spectrum disorder and typically developing children over an 8-month period in: (a) longitudinal associations between expressive and receptive vocabulary and (b) the extent to which caregiver utterances provided within an "optimal" engagement state mediated the pathway from early expressive to later receptive vocabulary. In total, 59 children (28-53 months at Time 1) comprised the autism spectrum disorder group and 46 children (8-24 months at Time 1) comprised the typically developing group. Groups were matched on initial vocabulary sizes. Results showed that the association between early expressive and later receptive vocabulary was moderated by group. A moderated mediation effect was also found, indicating linguistic input provided within an optimal engagement state only mediated associations for the autism spectrum disorder group.

A new measure of child vocal reciprocity in children with autism spectrum disorder.

Children's vocal development occurs in the context of reciprocal exchanges with a communication partner who models "speechlike" productions. We propose a new measure of child vocal reciprocity, which we define as the degree to which an adult vocal response increases the probability of an immediately following child vocal response. Vocal reciprocity is likely to be associated with the speechlikeness of vocal communication in young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Two studies were conducted to test the utility of the new measure. The first used simulated vocal samples with randomly sequenced child and adult vocalizations to test the accuracy of the proposed index of child vocal reciprocity. The second was an empirical study of 21 children with ASD who were preverbal or in the early stages of language development. Daylong vocal samples collected in the natural environment were computer analyzed to derive the proposed index of child vocal reciprocity, which was highly stable when derived from two daylong vocal samples and was associated with speechlikeness of vocal communication. This association was significant even when controlling for chance probability of child vocalizations to adult vocal responses, probability of adult vocalizations, or probability of child vocalizations. A valid measure of children's vocal reciprocity might eventually improve our ability to predict which children are on track to develop useful speech and/or are most likely to respond to language intervention. A link to a free, publicly-available software program to derive the new measure of child vocal reciprocity is provided. Autism Res 2018, 11: 903-915. © 2018 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. LAY SUMMARY: Children and adults often engage in back-and-forth vocal exchanges. The extent to which they do so is believed to support children's early speech and language development. Two studies tested a new measure of child vocal reciprocity using computer-generated and real-life vocal samples of young children with autism collected in natural settings. The results provide initial evidence of accuracy, test-retest reliability, and validity of the new measure of child vocal reciprocity. A sound measure of children's vocal reciprocity might improve our ability to predict which children are on track to develop useful speech and/or are most likely to respond to language intervention. A free, publicly-available software program and manuals are provided.

Early social-communicative and cognitive development of younger siblings of children with autism spectrum disorders.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the early social-communicative development of younger siblings of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) with that of younger siblings of children with typical development, using parental report and child-based measures. DESIGN: Group comparison. SETTING: Vanderbilt University, between July 1, 2003, and July 31, 2006. PARTICIPANTS: Younger siblings of children with ASD (n = 64) and younger siblings of children with typical development (n = 42) between the ages of 12 and 23 months (mean, 16 months). Main Exposure Having a sibling with an ASD. OUTCOME MEASURES: Child-based measures included a cognitive assessment; an interactive screening tool assessing play, imitation, and communication; and a rating of autism symptoms. Parental report measures were an interview of social-communicative interactions and a questionnaire assessing language and communication skills. RESULTS: Younger siblings of children with ASD demonstrated weaker performance in nonverbal problem solving (mean difference [MD], 5.91; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.48-9.34), directing attention (MD, 0.52; 95% CI, 0.07-0.97), understanding words (MD, 33.30; 95% CI, 3.11-63.48), understanding phrases (MD, 4.56; 95% CI, 1.85-7.27), gesture use (MD, 1.49; 95% CI, 0.51-2.47), and social-communicative interactions with parents (MD, 1.32; 95% CI, 0.27-2.37), and had increased autism symptoms (MD, 2.54; 95% CI, 1.05-4.03), relative to control siblings. A substantial minority of the ASD sibling group exhibited lower performance relative to controls. Significant correlations between child-based measures and parental reports assessing similar constructs were found (r = -0.74 to 0.53; P range, .000-.002). CONCLUSION: The weaker performance found for children in the ASD sibling group may represent early-emerging features of the broader autism phenotype, thus highlighting the importance of developmental surveillance for younger siblings.

Effects of different attentional cues on responding to joint attention in younger siblings of children with autism spectrum disorders.

We compared responding to joint attention (RJA) in younger siblings of children with ASD (SIBS-ASD; n = 46) and younger siblings of children developing typically (SIBS-TD; n = 35). Children were tested between 12 and 23 months of age in a situation in which an experimenter directed the child's attention to one of 8 targets. Each child responded to 10 different combinations of verbal and nonverbal cues containing varying levels of attention-specifying information. SIBS-ASD had significantly lower overall RJA scores than SIBS-TD. Moderately redundant cues were most difficult for SIBS-ASD relative to SIBS-TD; adding a point to moderately redundant cues improved RJA for SIBS-ASD, bringing them to a level of RJA commensurate with SIBS-TD.

Association between differentiated processing of syllables and comprehension of grammatical morphology in children with Down syndrome.

Our purpose in this exploratory investigation was to examine the relationship between degree of impairment in grammatical morpheme comprehension and event-related potential measures of differentiated processing of speech syllables in 10 children with Down syndrome. Results strongly support the hypothesized association. Graphs of the association indicate that children with less impaired grammatical comprehension had greater amplitude differences in event-related potentials to contrast of syllables within preselected poststimulus latency ranges. The theoretical and clinical ramifications of these results are discussed.

Labels increase attention to novel objects in children with autism and comprehension-matched children with typical development.

This study used an intact group comparison to examine attention following in 34 children aged 2 years diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) matched pairwise for vocabulary comprehension with a group of typically developing toddlers. For both groups of children, the presence of verbal labels during a referential task increased attention to a novel object over and above the attention-facilitating effect of child-directed talking without labeling. The typically developing children displayed more attention following than comprehension matched children with ASD across experimental conditions and there was no significant difference between the groups in the facilitative effect of hearing verbal labels. Implications for word-learning theory, intervention strategies and future research are considered.