Language outcome in autism: Randomized comparison of joint attention and play interventions.

Abstract

This study reports results of a randomized controlled trial aimed at joint attention (JA) and symbolic play (SP) in preschool children with autism, with prediction to language outcome 12 months later. Participants were 58 children (46 boys) with autism between 3 and 4 years of age. Children were randomized to a JA intervention, an SP intervention, or control group. Interventions were conducted 30 min daily for 5-6 weeks. Assessments of JA skills, SP skills, mother-child interactions, and language development were collected at 4 time points: pre- and postintervention and 6 and 12 months postintervention by independent testers. Results indicate that expressive language gains were greater for both treatment groups compared with the control group, and results could not be explained by differences in other interventions in which children participated. For children beginning treatment with the lowest language levels, the JA intervention improved language outcome significantly more than did the SP or control interventions. These findings suggest clinically significant benefits of actively treating JA and SP skills in young children with autism.

Exploring the Nature of Joint Attention Impairments in Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Associated Social and Cognitive Skills

“…Even after controlling for mental age, a significant correlation was found between RJA and IJA skills (on a lower level). However, there are also studies with children with ASD which report nonsignificant correlations between RJA and IJA skills (e.g., Kasari, Paparella, & Freeman, 2008;Murray et al, 2008). The children with ASD in these studies were somewhat older than the children in our study, but the contradictory findings may rather be due to differences in the methods used.…”

Social-communicative abilities and language in preschoolers with autism spectrum disorders: Associations differ depending on language age

“…Given their association with language, one of the most important predictors for the outcome in the long run, stimulating these abilities could also have an effect on language abilities and future development in general. Previous studies indeed showed improvement in language after a training in one of these abilities (Kasari et al, 2008;Paul et al, 2013). Because they all explain unique variance in language, a training programme that focuses on all abilities at once could even be more beneficial, especially in children with limited language abilities.…”

“…Interventions targeting imitation, joint attention or pretend play have an impact on language ability (e.g. Ingersoll & Lalonde, 2010;Kasari, Paparella, Freeman, & Jahromi, 2008), providing indirect evidence for the link between these skills and language.…”

“…Interventions targeting imitation, joint attention or pretend play have an impact on language ability (e.g. Ingersoll & Lalonde, 2010;Kasari, Paparella, Freeman, & Jahromi, 2008), providing indirect evidence for the link between these skills and language.Because imitation, joint attention and pretend play are interrelated (Toth, Munson, Meltzoff, & Dawson, 2006) it is important to consider their relative contribution to language development, controlling for the effect of the other social-communicative abilities. Studies that have looked at the concurrent link between social-communicative abilities and language yielded mixed results.…”

Características e Especificidades da Comunicação Social na Perturbação do Espectro do Autismo

“…Entre elas destacam-se a atenção conjunta e a imitação que são capacidades essenciais para estabelecer interações sociais e comunicativas para que a linguagem se desenvolva (CHARMAN, 2010;FREEMAN;PAPARELLA, 2006;KASARI et al, 2008). Estudos desenvolvidos por Baron-Cohen (2011 mostram que as crianças com PEA, quando utilizam os gestos de apontar, utilizam primeiro o apontar protoimperativo (ou seja, para pedir) em oposição ao apontar protodelarativo (isto é, para comentar).…”