Early social communication development in infants with autism spectrum disorder.
Child Dev
; 92(6): 2224-2234, 2021 11.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-34786700
ABSTRACT
Social-communication differences are a robust and defining feature of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) but identifying early points of divergence in infancy has been a challenge. The current study examines social communication in 9- to 12-month-old infants who develop ASD (N = 30; 23% female; 70% white) compared to typically developing (TD) infants (N = 94, 38% female; 88% white). Results demonstrate that infants later diagnosed with ASD were already exhibiting fewer social-communication skills using eye gaze, facial expression, gestures, and sounds at 9 months (effect size 0.42-0.89). Moreover, three unique patterns of change across distinct social-communication skills were observed within the ASD group. This study documents that observable social-communication differences for infants with ASD are unfolding by 9 months, pointing to a critical window for targeted intervention.
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Autism Spectrum Disorder
Limits:
Female
/
Humans
/
Infant
/
Male
Language:
En
Journal:
Child Dev
Year:
2021
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
United States