The developmental sequence of social-communicative skills in young children with autism: a longitudinal study.
Autism has its own social-communication roadmap; spotting the out-of-order milestones speeds diagnosis and sharpens goal choice.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Wu et al. (2014) watched the same children over time. They tracked when social and communication skills first showed up.
The group had toddlers with autism, toddlers with general delay, and typically developing babies. The team noted the order each child reached small milestones like pointing, showing toys, or saying first words.
What they found
Kids with autism followed a different path. They often pointed before they looked back at Mom, or repeated words before they used them to ask.
Children with general delay kept the usual order, just moved slower. The sequence itself, not only the speed, was unique in autism.
How this fits with other research
Syriopoulou-Delli et al. (2012) showed that the level of joint attention and imitation in infancy predicts later communication scores. Chin-Chin adds that the order these skills appear is also off in autism.
Clark et al. (2018) found that getting an autism diagnosis before age three leads to better school-age outcomes. Knowing the unique sequence can help clinicians feel confident making that early call.
Kamp-Becker et al. (2009) tracked the same social-communication factor into the teen years. The early twist seen by Chin-Chin stays visible long term.
Why it matters
Check the order, not just the age. If a toddler repeats many words but never points to show, don't wait. Use that mismatch as a red flag and start social-communication goals right away. Tailor programs to the child's own next step, not the typical calendar.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
To explore the different developmental trajectories of social-communicative skills in children with autism and typically developing infants, two longitudinal studies were conducted. In Study 1, we examined the developmental sequence of social-communicative skills in 26 typically developing infants when they were 9 months old and reexamined them when they were 12 and 15 months old. The results indicated a reliable developmental sequence of social-communicative skills in infants with typical development. In Study 2, we explored the emergence sequence of social-communicative skills of 23 children with autism and 23 children with developmental delay between the ages of 2 and 4 years. The results demonstrated that the developmental sequence of social-communicative skills in young children with autism and children with developmental delays was different.
Autism : the international journal of research and practice, 2014 · doi:10.1177/1362361313479832