Language profiles in young children with autism spectrum disorder: A community sample using multiple assessment instruments.
Use two different language measures—direct test plus parent report—when you assess toddlers with ASD, because each tool paints a different piece of the picture.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Nevill et al. (2019) looked at how language scores shift when you test toddlers with ASD in different ways. They gave each child a direct test, asked parents to fill out a report, and watched the kids play. The team wanted to see if the same child looked stronger or weaker depending on the tool.
They also checked what skills, like joint attention or nonverbal IQ, best predicted the scores.
What they found
The toddlers’ language profiles moved up or down depending on who was scoring and how. A child might look average on the direct test yet low on the parent form, or the other way around.
Receptive scores were tied to joint attention and nonverbal ability. Expressive scores were tied to how often the child babbled or vocalized.
How this fits with other research
Maes et al. (2023) extends this idea. They recorded free-play sounds from 3- to 5-year-olds and found five clear vocal clusters instead of a simple speaking vs nonspeaking split. Together the papers say: use more than one lens, and you will see layers of language, not one flat label.
Thomas et al. (2021) seems to disagree at first. They report that spontaneous expressive language stays flat into elementary years. The gap is method, not truth. Rose looked at toddlers with mixed tools; R used a naturalistic test with older kids and saw steady impairment. Both can be true: profiles vary by tool early on, yet real deficits persist later.
Chen et al. (2024) carries the warning further. In minimally verbal youth the receptive gap widens with age, so early multi-tool checks matter even more.
Why it matters
If you test a toddler with ASD using only one measure, you risk the wrong goal plan. A direct test may miss what parents hear every day, and a parent form may miss what the child shows in a structured task. Run at least two tools, watch joint attention, count vocal play, and plot separate receptive and expressive targets. This quick extra step keeps your baseline honest and your teaching spots clear.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
This study investigated language profiles in a community-based sample of 104 children aged 1-3 years who had been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder using Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.) diagnostic criteria. Language was assessed with the Mullen scales, Preschool Language Scale, fifth edition, and Vineland-II parent-report. The study aimed to determine whether the receptive-to-expressive language profile is independent from the assessment instrument used, and whether nonverbal cognition, early communicative behaviors, and autism spectrum disorder symptoms predict language scores. Receptive-to-expressive language profiles differed between assessment instruments and reporters, and Preschool Language Scale, fifth edition profiles were also dependent on developmental level. Nonverbal cognition and joint attention significantly predicted receptive language scores, and nonverbal cognition and frequency of vocalizations predicted expressive language scores. These findings support the administration of multiple direct assessment and parent-report instruments when evaluating language in young children with autism spectrum disorder, for both research and in clinical settings. Results also support that joint attention is a useful intervention target for improving receptive language skills in young children with autism spectrum disorder. Future research comparing language profiles of young children with autism spectrum disorder to children with non-autism spectrum disorder developmental delays and typical development will add to our knowledge of early language development in children with autism spectrum disorder.
Autism : the international journal of research and practice, 2019 · doi:10.1177/1362361317726245