Adding to the Conversation: Language Delays and Parent-Child Interactions in the Younger Siblings of Children With Autism.
EL-ASD three-year-olds stay on topic but add little new info, so ask for novel contributions in every turn.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Roemer and team watched three-year-olds talk with a parent during ten minutes of free play at home.
The kids were younger brothers or sisters of children already diagnosed with autism. These siblings are called EL-ASD because they carry extra language risk.
Researchers counted every word, checked if it could be understood, and noted whether the child added new ideas to the chat.
What they found
EL-ASD toddlers spoke less clearly and used shorter sentences than typical peers.
When their words could be understood, they stayed on topic just like other kids. Yet they brought up fewer fresh facts or questions.
Parents naturally matched their own sentence length to what the child could say.
How this fits with other research
Garrido et al. (2017) pooled many studies and showed language delays in ASD siblings start as early as 12 months. Roemer’s work zooms in on the same group at age three and paints the same picture.
Yirmiya et al. (2007) also found shorter, less clear speech in ASD siblings. The new study adds that these kids stay on topic, so the issue is adding new ideas, not staying engaged.
Chuthapisith et al. (2007) seems to disagree: they saw no verbal IQ gap in preschool siblings. The key difference is that Roemer looked at real talk at home, while Jariya used lab IQ tests. Kids can score average on tests yet still speak in short, repetitive bursts during play.
Why it matters
If you run early-intervention sessions, do not just reward any clear word. Prompt the child to say something new about the toy or picture. Try fill-ins like “Tell me a new part” or “What else do you see?” Parents can use the same cue. This tiny shift targets the exact gap these high-risk toddlers show.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
In their first three years, children begin to maintain topics and add new information in conversation. In turn, caregivers create opportunities for language learning. Compared to children with no family history of autism (typical likelihood, TL), the younger siblings of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are at elevated likelihood (EL) for both ASD and language delays. This study asked: (1) Do profiles of spoken language and conversational skills differ across groups? (2) Does spoken language relate to conversational skills? and (3) How does parent speech relate to child spoken language and conversational skills? Child spoken language, conversational skills, and parent speech were examined during toy play at home with three-year-old TL (n = 16) and EL children with ASD (EL-ASD, n = 10), non-ASD language delay (EL-LD, n = 21), and no delays or diagnoses (EL-ND, n = 37). EL-ASD children produced fewer intelligible utterances, and EL-LD and EL-ASD children produced shorter utterances than TL and EL-ND children. When utterances were intelligible, all groups were highly contingent to the topic. EL-ASD children were less likely than all other groups to add new information, and adding new information was positively associated with utterance length. Parents of EL-ASD children had fewer opportunities to respond contingently. However, all parents were highly topic-contingent when child speech was intelligible, and parent speech complexity varied with child language and conversational skills. Findings highlight strengths in conversational skills for EL-ASD children during toy play with parents and show that children and caregivers together shape opportunities for developing language and conversation.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2025 · doi:10.1044/jshr.3701.193