Developmental trajectories of adaptive behaviors from early childhood to adolescence in a cohort of 152 children with autism spectrum disorders.
Strong language and low autism severity at age five forecast better teen adaptive skills, and more early-intervention hours protect long-term communication.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Amaria and team tracked 152 autistic children for ten years. They measured adaptive skills every year from preschool to adolescence.
Kids were about five years old at the start. The study looked at language level, autism severity, and hours of early intervention.
What they found
Most kids gained adaptive skills, but two clear paths showed up. One group grew steadily; the other stayed flat.
Children with low language and high autism traits at age five ended up with weaker daily-living skills as teens. More early-intervention hours helped protect their communication scores.
How this fits with other research
Baghdadli et al. (2018) followed the same cohort for 15 years and saw a bleaker picture: only one in four stayed on a high-growth path. The longer view shows the flat group rarely catches up, so plan long-term supports.
Ben-Itzchak et al. (2020) found the same toddler split: high-cognitive kids gained adaptive skills, low-cognitive kids did not. The pattern holds across countries and samples.
Thurm et al. (2007) first showed that joint attention and imitation at age three predict language at age five. The new study pushes the window further, showing age-five language predicts adaptive living in the teen years.
Why it matters
Use age-five language and autism-severity scores to flag kids who may need stronger adult services. Push for dense early-intervention hours, especially for communication goals. Re-assess adaptive skills yearly; do not assume slow starters will “catch up” on their own.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
This study examines change in 152 children over an almost 10-year period (T1: 4.9 (± 1.3) years; T2: 8.1 (± 1.3) years; T3: 15(± 1.6) years) using a group-based, semi-parametric method in order to identify distinct developmental trajectories. Important deficits remain at adolescence in the adaptive abilities of children with Autism spectrum disorders, but changes in adaptive skills show two distinct growth rates. The univariate analysis reveals that low growth trajectories for both social and communication outcome are associated with the following characteristics at age 5: low cognitive and language skills, presence of epilepsy, and severity of autism. The multivariate analysis confirms that risk factors at age 5, were low language and severity of autism for both social and communication outcomes 10 years later, and that hours of early intervention was protective factor for communication.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2012 · doi:10.1007/s10803-011-1357-z