Does an Early Speech Preference Predict Linguistic and Social-Pragmatic Attention in Infants Displaying and Not Displaying Later ASD Symptoms?
Babies who prefer speech at 9 months talk more at 2 years, whether or not they develop ASD.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team watched 9-month-old babies listen to speech and other sounds.
They tracked how long each baby chose to hear speech over noise.
At 24 months they tested language and social skills in the same kids.
Some kids later met ASD criteria, others did not.
What they found
Babies who picked speech more at 9 months had stronger words at 24 months.
This link showed up in both ASD and neurotypical toddlers.
Speech preference did not predict social-pragmatic attention later.
Early listening choice only forecast talking, not social use of language.
How this fits with other research
Pfadt (1991) first noticed autistic toddlers often ignore their mother’s voice.
Camodeca et al. (2020) now show the gap starts even younger, yet still lifts language later.
Iao et al. (2024) found joint-attention and imitation predict language in Taiwanese toddlers.
Together the papers say many early social cues feed later language, not just listening bias.
Gunderson et al. (2021) tracked sensory issues from 12 to 24 months in ASD infants.
Their sensory scores widened over time, while Amy’s speech preference stayed flat for social skills.
The studies differ in focus, so they don’t clash; one tracks broad sensory reactivity, the other tracks listening choice.
Why it matters
You can gauge speech preference in minutes with simple headphone tasks.
If a baby leans toward speech, expect faster vocabulary growth and plan rich language input.
If not, add extra language models but don’t assume social-pragmatic trouble is coming.
Use the quick listen test to fine-tune parent coaching and goal priority.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Human infants show a robust preference for speech over many other sounds, helping them learn language and interact with others. Lacking a preference for speech may underlie some language and social-pragmatic difficulties in children with ASD. But, it's unclear how an early speech preference supports later language and social-pragmatic abilities. We show that across infants displaying and not displaying later ASD symptoms, a greater speech preference at 9 months is related to increased attention to a person when they speak at 12 months, and better expressive language at 24 months, but is not related to later social-pragmatic attention or outcomes. Understanding how an early speech preference supports language outcomes could inform targeted and individualized interventions for children with ASD.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2020 · doi:10.1007/s10803-019-03924-2