Language assessment and development in toddlers with autism spectrum disorders.
Gestures, joint attention, and imitation are immediate red-or-green lights for later language in toddlers with ASD.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Ahlborn et al. (2008) watched toddlers with autism during play and testing.
They scored gestures, eye contact, imitation, and understanding of words.
The goal was to see which skills link to receptive and expressive language right now.
What they found
Kids who pointed, showed toys, and looked when named had stronger receptive language.
The same gestures, plus copying actions, lined up with bigger expressive vocabularies.
Non-verbal thinking skills helped both kinds of language.
How this fits with other research
Thurm et al. (2007) saw the same pattern one year earlier.
They add a warning: toddlers with weak joint attention and imitation often stay non-verbal at five even when IQ looks okay.
Leigh et al. (2015) moved past “what predicts” to “what helps grow.” They showed that coaching parents to respond to joint attention and intentional messages speeds later language gains in preschoolers who start out silent.
Dimitrova et al. (2020) zoomed in on gesture details. They found right-handed points forecast next-year vocabulary better than total gestures, giving you a free, easy probe during any play sample.
Why it matters
You can spot risk in minutes by noting if a toddler uses shows, gives, points, and follows your gaze.
When these pieces are missing, start joint-attention and imitation drills right away and teach caregivers to respond every time the child communicates.
Track handedness of points over time; a flat or left-only pattern can flag slower vocabulary growth.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
One of the primary diagnostic criteria for the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is the presence of a language delay or impairment. Children with ASD are now being identified at significantly younger ages, and prior research has consistently found that early language skills in this population are heterogeneous and an important predictor for later outcome. The goal of this study was to systematically investigate language in toddlers with ASD and to identify early correlates of receptive and expressive language in this population. The study included 164 toddlers with ASD between the ages of 18 and 33 months who were evaluated on several cognitive, language and behavioral measures. Results suggested good agreement among different measures of early language, including direct assessment and parent report measures. Significant concurrent predictors of receptive language included gestures, non-verbal cognitive ability and response to joint attention. For expressive language, the most significant predictors were non-verbal cognitive ability, gestures and imitation. These findings have important implications for intervention programs targeting this population.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2008 · doi:10.1007/s10803-007-0510-1