Young autistic children's listening preferences in regard to speech: a possible characterization of the symptom of social withdrawal.
Autistic toddlers often don’t prefer their mother’s speech—check auditory preference at intake.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Researchers visited homes of toddlers and preschoolers with autism. They played two sounds through a speaker: the child’s own mother talking and simple non-speech sounds like tones.
The team watched which sound the child moved toward or stayed near. They compared choices to typically developing kids and kids with other delays.
What they found
Most autistic toddlers either picked the non-speech sounds or showed no favorite. The other groups usually picked mom’s voice.
This gap showed up as early as two years old.
How this fits with other research
Camodeca et al. (2020) looked even younger. Nine-month-olds who later got an ASD diagnosis did show a small speech preference, and that early preference predicted better talking skills at age two. The two studies seem opposite, but they measure different things: Pfadt (1991) sees a missing social pull at two, while Amy sees a weak yet present link to later language at nine months.
Gunderson et al. (2021) widened the lens. They found high-risk toddlers were extra reactive to all sounds—social or not—by 12 months. Their data extend Pfadt (1991) by showing the speech avoidance is part of a broader sensory pattern, not just a social snub.
Cunningham (2012) reminds us no single test captures social change. A simple in-home listening choice can be one more quick probe, but it should sit beside other tools.
Why it matters
If a toddler ignores his mother’s voice, he may also tune out speech all day. Checking auditory preference during intake takes five minutes and no toys. Pair the result with sensory and language screens to build a fuller early profile and to pick reinforcers that click for that child.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Autism is a childhood disorder diagnosed primarily in the presence of severe social unresponsiveness in the first 3 years of life (Volkmar, 1987). Since speech exerts a prepotent attraction on the attention of normally developing infants, hence facilitating social engagement, we designed a technique to examine whether this inborn reaction could be at fault in young autistic children. They were given a choice between their mothers' speech and the noise of superimposed voices (a sound effect obtained in a busy canteen). Data were obtained utilizing a specially designed automated and computerized device which recorded the children's responses in their own homes. In contrast to comparison groups of mentally retarded and normally developing children who showed the expected strong preference for their mothers' speech, the autistic children actively preferred the alternative sound or showed a lack of preference for either audio segment. These results suggest that such abnormal reactions to speech are a feature of these children's overall disregard to people.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 1991 · doi:10.1007/BF02206995