Phenotyping variability in early socio-communicative skills in young children with autism and its influence on later development.
A toddler who shows toys but not faces needs people games first; the profile you see at two shapes the skills you get at four.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Journal et al. (2024) watched preschoolers with autism play with toys and people. They used the Early Social Communication Scales to score how each child used eye contact, gestures, and sounds.
The team ran a cluster analysis on these scores. This grouped the children into three clear communication styles at age two.
They then tracked the same kids for two years to see which style led to better cognitive and daily-living skills.
What they found
All autistic children started below typical peers on every social item.
Inside the autism group, one cluster loved objects, one loved people, and one showed mixed weak signals.
The object-focused group gained the least language and adaptive skills by age four. The people-focused group caught up the most.
How this fits with other research
Mélinia et al. (2026) repeated the idea one year later. They added motor and emotion scores and still found three matching clusters, showing the styles stay stable across domains.
Barbaro et al. (2012) first warned that receptive language lags behind expressive in toddlers. Fiona’s object-focused cluster now shows this gap grows when early play stays thing-centered, not people-centered.
Warnes et al. (2005) told us parent stories about regression do not predict later IQ. Fiona’s data agree: current communication profile, not family history, forecasts progress.
Why it matters
You can sort new clients in under 20 minutes using the ESCS toddler items. Flag kids who look mostly at toys and rarely show or give. Shift their first goals from labeling to joint attention and turn-taking. Early style, not family report, sets the roadmap.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often face challenges in early social communication skills, prompting the need for a detailed exploration of specific behaviors and their impact on cognitive and adaptive functioning. This study aims to address this gap by examining the developmental trajectories of early social communication skills in preschoolers with ASD aged 18-60 months, comparing them to age-matched typically developing (TD) children. Utilizing the early social communication scales (ESCS), the research employs a longitudinal design to capture changes over time. We apply a principal component analysis (PCA) to ESCS variables to identify underlying components, and cluster analysis to identify subgroups based on preverbal communication profiles. The results reveal consistent differences in early social communication skills between ASD and TD children, with ASD children exhibiting reduced skills. PCA identifies two components, distinguishing objects-directed behaviors and social interaction-directed behaviors. Cluster analysis identifies three subgroups of autistic children, each displaying specific communication profiles associated with distinct cognitive and adaptive functioning trajectories. In conclusion, this study provides a nuanced understanding of early social communication development in ASD, emphasizing the importance of low-level behaviors. The identification of subgroups and their unique trajectories contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of ASD heterogeneity. These findings underscore the significance of early diagnosis, focusing on specific behaviors predicting cognitive and adaptive functioning outcomes. The study encourages further research to explore the sequential development of these skills, offering valuable insights for interventions and support strategies.
Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research, 2024 · doi:10.1002/aur.3188