Types of Parent Verbal Responsiveness That Predict Language in Young Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abstract

Purpose: This study examined short-term predictive associations between 5 different types of parent verbal responsiveness and later spoken vocabulary for 32 young children with a confirmed diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Method: Parent verbal utterances were coded from videotapes of naturalistic parent–child play sessions using interval and event-based coding. A vocabulary difference score, calculated using the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventories (L. Fenson et al., 1993), was used as the outcome measure of spoken vocabulary 6 months later. Results: Parent follow-in comments and follow-in directives predicted spoken vocabulary after controlling for child engagement. Parent expansions of child verbal utterances predicted spoken vocabulary after controlling for child talkativeness. When entered together into a regression analysis, metrics that represented (a) the number of parent utterances following into the child’s focus of attention and (b) the number of parent utterances responding to child verbal communication acts both accounted for unique variance in predicting change in spoken vocabulary from Time 1 to Time 2. Conclusion: Parent verbal utterances that follow into the child’s current focus of attention or respond to child verbal communication acts may facilitate the process of early vocabulary acquisition by mitigating the need for children with ASD to use attention-following as a word-learning strategy.

Joint Engagement and Early Language in Young Children With Fragile X Syndrome

“…These findings are consistent with earlier findings showing that JE provides opportunities for additional verbal input when the child and mother are focused on the same activity (e.g., Mundy, Kasari, Sigman, & Ruskin, 1995). When this is the case, vocabulary uptake may be facilitated (McDuffie & Yoder, 2010). Future studies on JE in children with FXS might explore the relationship between object engagement and receptive language as other studies have indicated a positive relationship (Bottema-Beutel et al, 2014).…”

What Do Caregivers Tell Us about Infant Babbling?

“…Infants considered at risk would have been those who had experienced one or more of the following conditions prior to 7 months of age: pre-and/or perinatal problems; ear, nose, and throat problems; swallowing/sucking problems; and/or a family history of speech and/or language problems (Brady et al, 2004;Goldstein & Schwade, 2008;McDuffie & Yoder, 2010). See Table 1 Six of the 15 infant participants were male, and nine were female.…”

“…In addition, it has been well-documented that caregiver response to early communicative behaviors can be indicative of both typical and atypical development (Brady, Marquis, Fleming, & McLean, 2004;Goldstein & Schwade, 2008;McDuffie & Yoder, 2010 variables for early identification of late-talkers, using mainly expressive language measures such as vocabulary size, has been conducted with parents whose children are as young as 18 to 32 months of age (Rescorla, 2002). Given that caregiver report can be used to reliably track various aspects of development, it seems logical to postulate that caregivers can provide us with a more accurate and functional means of tracking vocal development earlier than previously explored.…”

Bridging the Research and Cultural-Practice Gap in Early Language Intervention in Malaysia

“…In this model, parents are explicitly taught to facilitative communication strategies such as recognising the child's non-conventional communicative behaviours, e.g., eye-gaze, body movements (Brady et al 2009) and providing language input that maps the child's focus and interests in contexts that are meaningful (as opposed to artificial) to the child (Brady et al 2009). These features of the minimally intrusive model have been shown to effect in language development such as the advancement of children's vocabulary, morpho-syntax, semantic and pragmatic skills (Wong et al 2012;Camarata et al 1994;McDuffie & Yoder 2010), improved parental language facilitation skills (Girolametto 1988;Kim & Mahoney 2004) and generalisation of intervention outcomes (Goldstein 2002;Roberts & Kaiser 2011). The minimally intrusive model demands that the adults follow the child's lead and adopt the collaborative-consultation approach in early language intervention, rendering it compatible FIGURE 1.…”