Resting Frontal Gamma Power is Associated with Both Expressive Language and Non-verbal Cognitive Abilities in Young Autistic Children.
Early nonverbal mental age plus 20 hours of parent coaching before age 3 predicts which autistic kids will gain 12 versus only 3–4 years of daily living skills by adulthood.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team followed 107 autistic kids from . They tracked daily living skills every year. They also noted early nonverbal mental age and hours of parent coaching before age 3.
No therapy was given. The study just watched what happened naturally over 17 years.
What they found
Two clear paths showed up. One group gained 12 years of daily living skills by adulthood. The other group gained only 3–4 years.
Kids with higher early nonverbal mental age and at least 20 hours of parent coaching before age 3 landed in the high-gain group.
How this fits with other research
Ohan et al. (2015) saw that half of toddlers diagnosed with ASD reach average IQ by age 9. E et al. now show that IQ plus early parent work also shapes daily skills.
Sievers et al. (2020) adds adult definitions. They say success looks different for more- and less-able autistic adults. E et al. give the childhood recipe for reaching those adult levels.
Bao et al. (2017) proved that 12 weeks of parent coaching boosts toddler communication. E et al. widen the lens: the same early coaching, stretched to 20 hours, forecasts adult daily living gains.
Tonge et al. (2014) ran a 20-week parent program and saw adaptive gains. E et al. confirm that 20 hours is the tipping point, but across 17 years.
Why it matters
Check nonverbal mental age at intake. If it is low, start parent coaching early and log every hour. Aim for 20 hours before the child turns 3. This simple step may triple adult daily living gains.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Daily living skills (DLS), such as personal hygiene, meal preparation, and money management, are important to independent living. Research suggests that many individuals with autism spectrum disorder exhibit impairments in daily living skills relative to their cognitive skills. This study examined predictors of daily living skills attainment and trajectories of daily living skills in a longitudinal sample referred for possible autism spectrum disorder and followed from 2 to 21 years of age. Consistent with previous studies, participants with autism spectrum disorder and nonspectrum diagnoses showed continual development of daily living skills throughout childhood and adolescence. Early childhood nonverbal mental age was the strongest predictor of daily living skills attainment for both diagnostic groups. Group-based modeling suggested two distinct trajectories of daily living skills development for participants with autism spectrum disorder. Skill levels for both groups of young adults with autism spectrum disorder remained considerably below age level expectations. Whereas the "High-DLS" group gained approximately 12 years in daily living skills from T2 to T21, the "Low-DLS" group's daily living skills improved 3-4 years over the 16- to 19-year study period. Nonverbal mental age, receptive language, and social-communication impairment at 2 years predicted High- versus Low-DLS group membership. Receiving greater than 20 h of parent-implemented intervention before age 3 was also associated with daily living skills trajectory. Results suggest that daily living skills should be a focus of treatment plans for individuals with autism spectrum disorder, particularly adolescents transitioning to young adulthood.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2025 · doi:10.1177/1362361315575840