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Predictors of Language Acquisition in Preschool Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

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Abstract

In 118 children followed from age 2 to 5 (59 with autism, 24 with PDD-NOS and 35 with non-spectrum developmental disabilities), age 2 and age 3 scores of non-verbal ability, receptive communication, expressive communication and socialization were compared as predictors of receptive and expressive language at age 5. Non-verbal cognitive ability at age 2 was generally the strongest predictor of age 5 language, while at age 3 communication scores were a stronger predictor of age 5 language for children with autism. Early joint attention as well as vocal and motor imitation skills were more impaired in children who did not develop language by age 5 (but had relatively strong non-verbal cognitive skills) than in children who did develop language by 5.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by grant HD 35482 from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and MH066469 from the National Institute of Mental Health (Dr Lord). The authors wish to gratefully acknowledge the participation of the families involved in the study, and the help of Deborah Anderson, Debra Combs, Pamela DiLavore, Glenna Osborne, Andrew Pickles, Shanping Qiu, Susan Risi and Cory Shulman in data collection and management. Parts of this work were presented at the Society for Research in Child Development, April 7, 2005; Atlanta, Georgia. This work was written while Dr. Thurm was working at NIMH and was not written as part of the Contributor’s official duties as a Government employee. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent the views of the National Institutes of Health or the United States Government.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pediatric and Developmental Neuropsychiatry Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, 10 Center Drive MSC 1255, Building 10, 4N208, Bethesda, MD, 20892-1255, USA

    Audrey Thurm

  2. University of Michigan Autism and Communication Disorders Center (UMACC), University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Catherine Lord

  3. Department of Epidemiology, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Li-Ching Lee

  4. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Drexel University School of Public Health, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Craig Newschaffer

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  1. Audrey Thurm
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  2. Catherine Lord
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  3. Li-Ching Lee
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  4. Craig Newschaffer
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Correspondence to Audrey Thurm.

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Thurm, A., Lord, C., Lee, LC. et al. Predictors of Language Acquisition in Preschool Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. J Autism Dev Disord 37, 1721–1734 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-006-0300-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-006-0300-1

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