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Barokova MD, Tager-Flusberg H. Exploring cross-linguistic differences in parental input and their associations with child expressive language in ASD: Bulgarian versus English comparison. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE & COMMUNICATION DISORDERS 2024. [PMID: 38989796 DOI: 10.1111/1460-6984.13089] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2023] [Accepted: 06/25/2024] [Indexed: 07/12/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Parental input plays a central role in typical language acquisition and development. In autism spectrum disorder (ASD), characterized by social communicative and language difficulties, parental input presents an important avenue for investigation as a target for intervention. A rich body of literature has identified which aspects of grammatical complexity and lexical diversity are most associated with child language ability in both typical development and autism. Yet, the majority of these studies are conducted with English-speaking children, thus potentially overlooking nuances in parental input derived from cross-linguistic variation. AIMS To examine the differences in verbal parental input to Bulgarian- and English-speaking children with ASD. To examine whether aspects of verbal parental input found to be concurrent predictors of English-speaking children's expressive language ability are also predictors of the expressive language of Bulgarian-speaking children with ASD. METHODS & PROCEDURES We compared parental input to Bulgarian-speaking (N = 37; 2;7-9;10 years) and English-speaking (N = 37; 1;8-4;9 years) children with ASD matched on expressive language. Parent-child interactions were collected during free play with developmentally appropriate toys. These interactions were transcribed, and key measures of parental input were extracted. OUTCOMES & RESULTS English-speaking parents produced more word tokens and word types than Bulgarian-speaking parents. However, Bulgarian parents produced more verbs in relation to nouns and used more statements and exclamations but asked fewer questions than English-speaking parents. In addition, child age and parents' use of questions were significant concurrent predictors of child expressive vocabulary. CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS This is one of the first studies to conduct a cross-linguistic comparison of parental input in ASD. The differences found emphasize the need to further study parental input to Bulgarian children and adapt naturalistic parent-mediated interventions to the local language and its specific characteristics. WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS What is already known on the subject A rich body of literature has identified the specific aspects of grammatical complexity, lexical diversity, and question-asking that are concurrently and longitudinally associated with the language ability of children with typical development and of children with ASD. Yet, the majority of these studies are conducted with English-speaking children. What this paper adds to the existing knowledge The present study finds that there are specific differences in verbal parental input to Bulgarian- and English-speaking children with autism in terms of lexical composition and question-asking. Bulgarian parents used more verbs than nouns, and the opposite pattern was found for English-speaking parents. In addition, Bulgarian parents asked fewer questions but used more statements and exclamations. Nevertheless, parental question use was significantly correlated with children's language ability across both groups, suggesting that question-asking should be further examined as a potential target for parent-mediated language interventions for Bulgarian children with autism. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work? Most language and social communication interventions for autism are designed and piloted with English-speaking children. These interventions are often simply translated and used in different countries, with different populations and in different contexts. However, considering that one of the defining characteristics of autism is language difficulty, more studies should examine (1) how these language difficulties manifest in languages other than English, and (2) what characterizes verbal parental input in these other contexts. Such research investigations should inform future language and social communication interventions. The present study emphasizes the cross-linguistic differences between Bulgarian- and English-speaking parents' verbal input to their children with autism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mihaela D Barokova
- Center for Autism Research Excellence, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Helen Tager-Flusberg
- Center for Autism Research Excellence, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
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Provera A, Neri E, Agostini F. Infant-Directed Speech to Preterm Infants during the First Year Postpartum: The Influence of Preterm Birth Weight and Maternal Parenting Stress. Healthcare (Basel) 2024; 12:401. [PMID: 38338284 PMCID: PMC10855096 DOI: 10.3390/healthcare12030401] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2023] [Revised: 01/30/2024] [Accepted: 02/02/2024] [Indexed: 02/12/2024] Open
Abstract
Premature birth can increase the level of parenting stress (PS), especially in the case of parents of high-risk infants (extremely low birth weight (ELBW) and very low birth weight (VLBW)). Though published research has explored how maternal PS influences early dyadic interactions, limited research has focused on infant-directed speech (IDS), and no studies have investigated the link between prematurity severity based on birth weight and maternal IDS. This study, involving 100 mother-infant dyads, categorized into 30 ELBW premature infants, 30 VLBW premature infants, and 40 full-term (FT) ones, examined the impact of preterm birth weight and maternal parenting stress on IDS features during early interactions at 3 and 9 months postpartum. Maternal input was assessed using the CHILDES system, while parenting stress was evaluated using the Parenting Stress Index-Short Form. The results revealed that high-risk conditions (ELBW preterm birth and high parenting stress) at 3 months were associated with reduced affect-salient speech and increased questioning. IDS functional patterns, specifically the proportion of affect-salient speech and questions, were influenced by both birth weight groups and parenting stress levels at 3 months but not at 9 months. These findings highlight the need to assess, within the context of prematurity, both birth weight and parenting stress in clinical practice, offering insights for developing interventions supporting positive parent-infant interactions and facilitating infant development.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Erica Neri
- Department of Psychology, University of Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy;
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Krupa M, Boominathan P, Sebastian S, Raman PV. Joint Engagement in Mother-Child Dyads of Autistic and Non-Autistic Children Among Asian Indian Tamil Speaking Families. J Autism Dev Disord 2023:10.1007/s10803-023-06062-y. [PMID: 37642866 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-023-06062-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 07/06/2023] [Indexed: 08/31/2023]
Abstract
This study profiled various levels of engagement and related communication behaviours among 50 Asian Indian Tamil autistic children (AUT) and their mothers. The interaction was compared with two groups of mother-child dyads of non-autistic (NA) children, 50 in each group, matched for chronological age (CA), and for language level (LL). Results indicated that despite mother's efforts to engage with their children, autistic children were often 'engaged with objects' or remained 'unengaged' due to children's preference for solitary play, while NA children were often engaged in 'co-ordinated' and 'people engagement'. Across the three groups, mothers predominantly took the lead and dominated the interaction, irrespective of children's language levels. These initiations by the mothers were often to provide instructions and to ask 'What' questions. Autistic children initiated communication predominantly to ask for an object and responded often in the form of negations and protests with limited verbal output or non-verbally. Most of the communication behaviours of both children and mothers in AUT group was quantitatively and qualitatively different when compared to those in both the NA groups, indicating unique nature of interactions despite matching for CA or LL. The observations from the study highlights the need for considering adult's contingent behaviours also, while assessing communication skills of autistic children in order to provide effective intervention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Murugesan Krupa
- Department of Speech Language Pathology, Sri Ramachandra Faculty of Audiology and Speech Language Pathology, Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education & Research (Deemed University, Porur, Chennai, 600 116, Tamil Nadu, India.
| | - Prakash Boominathan
- Department of Speech Language Pathology, Sri Ramachandra Faculty of Audiology and Speech Language Pathology, Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education & Research (Deemed University, Porur, Chennai, 600 116, Tamil Nadu, India
| | - Swapna Sebastian
- Audiology & Speech Language Pathology Services, Department of ENT, Christian Medical College, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India
| | - Padmasani Venkat Raman
- Department of Paediatric Medicine, Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education & Research (Deemed University, Porur, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
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Woolard A, Benders T, Campbell LE, Whalen OM, Mallise C, Karayanidis F, Barker D, Murphy VE, Tait J, Gibson P, Korostenski L, Lane AE. The relationship between pitch contours in infant-directed speech and early signs of autism in infancy. Infant Behav Dev 2023; 72:101860. [PMID: 37478500 DOI: 10.1016/j.infbeh.2023.101860] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2022] [Revised: 06/15/2023] [Accepted: 06/20/2023] [Indexed: 07/23/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE Mother-infant interactions during the first year of life are crucial to healthy infant development. The infant-directed speech (IDS), and specifically pitch contours, used by mothers during interactions are associated with infant language and social development. However, little research has examined pitch contours towards infants with socio-communication and language differences, such as those displaying early signs of autism spectrum disorder (autism). This study aimed to explore the association of infant autism signs and pitch contours used by mothers with their 12-month-old infants. METHOD Mother-infant dyads (n = 109) were recruited from the University of Newcastle BabyLab. Parent-infant dyads completed a 15-min interaction, from which a total of 36,128 pitch contours were measured and correlated with infant autism signs. Infant autism signs were assessed via parent-report (First Year Inventory; Reznick et al., 2007). A subset of high-risk infants (admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit, n = 29) also received an observation-based assessment (Autism Detection in Early Childhood; Young & Nah, 2016). RESULTS Mothers used fewer sinusoidal contours when they rated their infant as displaying more autism signs (rs = - .30, p = .004) and more autism-related sensory regulation issues (rs = - .31, p = .001). Mothers used fewer flat contours if their infant displayed more researcher-rated autism signs (r2 = - .39, p = .04). CONCLUSIONS This study provides the early evidence that maternal pitch contours in IDS are related to early autism signs in infancy. If our findings are replicated in follow up studies where infants are followed to diagnosis, maternal IDS may be an important element of future early intervention protocols that focus on communication for infants with risk for autism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alix Woolard
- Family Interaction and Neurodevelopmental Laboratory, University of Newcastle, Australia; School of Psychology, University of Newcastle, Australia; Priority Research Centre GrowUpWell, University of Newcastle, Australia; Telethon Kids Institute, Perth, Australia.
| | - Titia Benders
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders, Department of Linguistics, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
| | - Linda E Campbell
- Family Interaction and Neurodevelopmental Laboratory, University of Newcastle, Australia; School of Psychology, University of Newcastle, Australia; Priority Research Centre GrowUpWell, University of Newcastle, Australia
| | - Olivia M Whalen
- Family Interaction and Neurodevelopmental Laboratory, University of Newcastle, Australia; School of Psychology, University of Newcastle, Australia; Priority Research Centre GrowUpWell, University of Newcastle, Australia
| | - Carly Mallise
- Population Health, Hunter New England Local Health District, Wallsend, Australia; School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, Australia
| | - Frini Karayanidis
- School of Psychology, University of Newcastle, Australia; Functional Neuroimaging Laboratory, University of Newcastle, Australia
| | - Daniel Barker
- School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Newcastle, Australia
| | - Vanessa E Murphy
- Priority Research Centre GrowUpWell, University of Newcastle, Australia; School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Newcastle, Australia; John Hunter Children's Hospital, Australia
| | - Jordan Tait
- Family Interaction and Neurodevelopmental Laboratory, University of Newcastle, Australia; School of Psychology, University of Newcastle, Australia
| | - Peter Gibson
- Priority Research Centre GrowUpWell, University of Newcastle, Australia; School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Newcastle, Australia; Priority Research Centre for Healthy Lungs, University of Newcastle, Australia
| | | | - Alison E Lane
- Priority Research Centre GrowUpWell, University of Newcastle, Australia; Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia
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Provera A, Neri E, Agostini F. Infant-Directed Speech to 3-Month-Old Severe Preterm Infants: The Influence of Birth Weight and Maternal Depressive Symptoms. Healthcare (Basel) 2023; 11:1807. [PMID: 37372924 DOI: 10.3390/healthcare11121807] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/14/2023] [Revised: 06/16/2023] [Accepted: 06/19/2023] [Indexed: 06/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Severe premature birth (<32 weeks) is a risk factor for the development of maternal perinatal depression, while also affecting dyadic interactions and child outcomes. Although several studies have examined the impacts of prematurity and depression on early interactions, only a few studies have investigated the features of maternal verbal input. Furthermore, no study has investigated the relationship between the effect of severity of prematurity according to birth weight and maternal input. This study aimed to explore the effects of the severity of preterm birth and postnatal depression on maternal input during early interactions. The study included 64 mother-infant dyads, classified into three groups: 17 extremely low birth weight (ELBW) preterm infants, 17 very low birth weight (VLBW) preterm infants, and 30 full-term (FT) infants. At 3 months postpartum (corrected age for preterm infants), the dyads participated in a 5-min free interaction session. Maternal input was analyzed using the CHILDES system in terms of lexical and syntactic complexity (i.e., word types, word tokens, mean length of the utterance) and functional features. Maternal postnatal depression (MPD) was assessed using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. The results showed that in high-risk conditions (i.e., ELBW preterm birth and maternal postnatal depression), maternal input was characterized by a lower frequency of affect-salient speech and a higher proportion of information-salient speech, specifically as directives and questions, suggesting that mothers in these conditions may experience more difficulty in conveying affective content to their infants. Moreover, the more frequent use of questions may reflect an interactive style characterized by a higher level of intrusiveness. These findings provide preliminary evidence of the impacts of prematurity severity and maternal depression on maternal verbal input, highlighting the importance of assessing both factors in clinical practice. Understanding the mechanisms underlying the impacts of prematurity and depression on early interactions may inform the development of tailored interventions aimed at promoting positive parent-infant interactions and child development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessandra Provera
- Department of Psychology "Renzo Canestrari", University of Bologna, 40137 Bologna, Italy
| | - Erica Neri
- Department of Psychology "Renzo Canestrari", University of Bologna, 40137 Bologna, Italy
| | - Francesca Agostini
- Department of Psychology "Renzo Canestrari", University of Bologna, 40137 Bologna, Italy
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Luyster R, Leiwant I, Arunachalam S. Frequency, Form and Function of Dyadic Questions in Children with Autism: A CHILDES corpus study. COMMUNICATION DISORDERS QUARTERLY 2023; 44:163-172. [PMID: 38223206 PMCID: PMC10786635 DOI: 10.1177/15257401221111336] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/16/2024]
Abstract
Children's questions to their caregivers - and caregivers' questions to their children - play an important role in child development. For children on the autism spectrum, who often experience cognitive, linguistic and social difficulties, prior research on questions has resulted in inconsistent and incomplete findings. The present study characterized the frequency, form, and function of queries posed by children on the autism spectrum (n = 12), non-spectrum peers (n =20), and parents using the Nadig ASD English Corpus in the Child Language Data Exchange System (CHILDES). Results suggested that children on the autism spectrum and their caregivers produced fewer questions than non-spectrum dyads; however, whereas wh- questions were under-represented in the repertoire of children on the spectrum, they were over-represented in the repertoire of their parents. Finally, question function was similarly diverse for parents and children across groups. These findings offer important clinical implications for question-asking interventions targeting this population.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rhiannon Luyster
- Communication Sciences and Disorders, Emerson College, 120 Boylston St, Boston MA 02216
| | - Isabella Leiwant
- Communication Sciences and Disorders, Emerson College, 120 Boylston St, Boston MA 02216
| | - Sudha Arunachalam
- Communication Sciences and Disorders, Emerson College, 120 Boylston St, Boston MA 02216
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Pierce K, Wen TH, Zahiri J, Andreason C, Courchesne E, Barnes CC, Lopez L, Arias SJ, Esquivel A, Cheng A. Level of Attention to Motherese Speech as an Early Marker of Autism Spectrum Disorder. JAMA Netw Open 2023; 6:e2255125. [PMID: 36753277 PMCID: PMC9909502 DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.55125] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2022] [Accepted: 12/19/2022] [Indexed: 02/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Importance Caregivers have long captured the attention of their infants by speaking in motherese, a playful speech style characterized by heightened affect. Reduced attention to motherese in toddlers with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may be a contributor to downstream language and social challenges and could be diagnostically revealing. Objective To investigate whether attention toward motherese speech can be used as a diagnostic classifier of ASD and is associated with language and social ability. Design, Setting, and Participants This diagnostic study included toddlers aged 12 to 48 months, spanning ASD and non-ASD diagnostic groups, at a research center. Data were collected from February 2018 to April 2021 and analyzed from April 2021 to March 2022. Exposures Gaze-contingent eye-tracking test. Main Outcomes and Measures Using gaze-contingent eye tracking wherein the location of a toddler's fixation triggered a specific movie file, toddlers participated in 1 or more 1-minute eye-tracking tests designed to quantify attention to motherese speech, including motherese vs traffic (ie, noisy vehicles on a highway) and motherese vs techno (ie, abstract shapes with music). Toddlers were also diagnostically and psychometrically evaluated by psychologists. Levels of fixation within motherese and nonmotherese movies and mean number of saccades per second were calculated. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to evaluate optimal fixation cutoff values and associated sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value. Within the ASD group, toddlers were stratified based on low, middle, or high levels of interest in motherese speech, and associations with social and language abilities were examined. Results A total of 653 toddlers were included (mean [SD] age, 26.45 [8.37] months; 480 males [73.51%]). Unlike toddlers without ASD, who almost uniformly attended to motherese speech with a median level of 82.25% and 80.75% across the 2 tests, among toddlers with ASD, there was a wide range, spanning 0% to 100%. Both the traffic and techno paradigms were effective diagnostic classifiers, with large between-group effect sizes (eg, ASD vs typical development: Cohen d, 1.0 in the techno paradigm). Across both paradigms, a cutoff value of 30% or less fixation on motherese resulted in an area under the ROC curve (AUC) of 0.733 (95% CI, 0.693-0.773) and 0.761 (95% CI, 0.717-0.804), respectively; specificity of 98% (95% CI, 95%-99%) and 96% (95% CI, 92%-98%), respectively; and PPV of 94% (95% CI, 86%-98%). Reflective of heterogeneity and expected subtypes in ASD, sensitivity was lower at 18% (95% CI, 14%-22%) and 29% (95% CI, 24%-34%), respectively. Combining metrics increased the AUC to 0.841 (95% CI, 0.805-0.877). Toddlers with ASD who showed the lowest levels of attention to motherese speech had weaker social and language abilities. Conclusions and Relevance In this diagnostic study, a subset of toddlers showed low levels of attention toward motherese speech. When a cutoff level of 30% or less fixation on motherese speech was used, toddlers in this range were diagnostically classified as having ASD with high accuracy. Insight into which toddlers show unusually low levels of attention to motherese may be beneficial not only for early ASD diagnosis and prognosis but also as a possible therapeutic target.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karen Pierce
- Autism Center of Excellence, Department of Neurosciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla
| | - Teresa H. Wen
- Autism Center of Excellence, Department of Neurosciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla
| | - Javad Zahiri
- Autism Center of Excellence, Department of Neurosciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla
| | - Charlene Andreason
- Autism Center of Excellence, Department of Neurosciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla
| | - Eric Courchesne
- Autism Center of Excellence, Department of Neurosciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla
| | - Cynthia C. Barnes
- Autism Center of Excellence, Department of Neurosciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla
| | - Linda Lopez
- Autism Center of Excellence, Department of Neurosciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla
| | - Steven J. Arias
- Autism Center of Excellence, Department of Neurosciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla
| | - Ahtziry Esquivel
- Autism Center of Excellence, Department of Neurosciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla
| | - Amanda Cheng
- Autism Center of Excellence, Department of Neurosciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla
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Perzolli S, Bentenuto A, Bertamini G, Venuti P. Play with Me: How Fathers and Mothers Play with Their Preschoolers with Autism. Brain Sci 2023; 13:brainsci13010120. [PMID: 36672101 PMCID: PMC9857312 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci13010120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2022] [Revised: 12/28/2022] [Accepted: 01/09/2023] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
(1) Background: Children can develop cognitive and social skills during play. Most research has focused on mothers, but the paternal features in interaction with children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are mainly unexplored. This study aimed to compare fathers’ and mothers’ interactive behaviors with their children with ASD to identify similarities and differences during playful exchanges. (2) Methods: A total of 72 mothers and 72 fathers of paired children with ASD (chronological age: M = 44.61 months; SD = 13.37) took part in this study. Data were collected during 10 min of video-recorded semi-structured interactions with mothers and fathers separately in interaction with their children. (3) Results: Mothers showed more symbolic play (W = 3537; p < 0.001) than fathers, who displayed higher levels of exploratory play (t(139.44) = −2.52; p = 0.013) compared to mothers. However, child cognitive functioning impacts maternal play but not the father’s play characteristics. (4) Conclusions: Highlighting mother−child and father−child features may have important service delivery implications for implementing personalized parental-based interventions based on the strengths and weaknesses of both caregivers in a complementary system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Silvia Perzolli
- Laboratory of Observation, Diagnosis, and Education (ODFLab), Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science, University of Trento, 38068 Rovereto, Italy
- Correspondence:
| | - Arianna Bentenuto
- Laboratory of Observation, Diagnosis, and Education (ODFLab), Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science, University of Trento, 38068 Rovereto, Italy
| | - Giulio Bertamini
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Pitiè-Salpêtrière Hospital, Sorbonne University, 75651 Paris, France
| | - Paola Venuti
- Laboratory of Observation, Diagnosis, and Education (ODFLab), Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science, University of Trento, 38068 Rovereto, Italy
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He AX, Luyster RJ, Arunachalam S. Parental tuning of language input to autistic and nonspectrum children. Front Psychol 2022; 13:954983. [PMID: 36211865 PMCID: PMC9537044 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.954983] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2022] [Accepted: 09/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Caregivers’ language input supports children’s language development, and it is often tuned to the child’s current level of skill. Evidence suggests that parental input is tuned to accommodate children’s expressive language levels, but accommodation to receptive language abilities is less understood. In particular, little is known about parental sensitivity to children’s abilities to process language in real time. Compared to nonspectrum children, children on the spectrum are slower to process language. In this study, we ask: Do parents of autistic children and those of nonspectrum children tune their language input to accommodate children’s different language processing abilities? Children with and without a diagnosis of autism (ages 2–6 years, N = 35) and their parents viewed a display of six images, one of which was the target. The parent labeled the target to direct the child’s attention to it. We first examined children’s language processing abilities by assessing their latencies to shift gaze to the labeled referent; from this, we found slower latencies in the autistic group than in the nonspectrum group, in line with previous findings. We then examined features of parents’ language and found that parents in both groups produced similar language, suggesting that parents may not adjust their language input according to children’s speed of language processing. This finding suggests that (1) capturing parental sensitivity to children’s receptive language, and specifically language processing, may enrich our models of individual differences in language input, and (2) future work should investigate if supporting caregivers in tuning their language use according to children’s language processing can improve children’s language outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Angela Xiaoxue He
- Department of English and Literature, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong SAR, China
| | - Rhiannon J. Luyster
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Emerson College, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Sudha Arunachalam
- Department of Communicative Sciences and Disorders, New York University, New York, NY, United States
- *Correspondence: Sudha Arunachalam,
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Xu YA, Naigles LR, Su YE. Early Word Order Usage in Preschool Mandarin-Speaking Typical Children and Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: Influences of Caregiver Input? Front Psychol 2022; 12:766133. [PMID: 35069339 PMCID: PMC8770832 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.766133] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2021] [Accepted: 11/30/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
This study explores the emergence and productivity of word order usage in Mandarin-speaking typically-developing (TD) children and children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and examines how this emergence relates to frequency of use in caregiver input. Forty-two caregiver-child dyads participated in video-recorded 30-min semi-structured play sessions. Eleven children with ASD were matched with 10 20-month-old TD children and another 11 children with ASD were matched with 10 26-month-old TD children, on expressive language. We report four major findings: (1) Preschool Mandarin-speaking children with ASD produced word order structures with pervasive ellipsis at similar rates to language-matched TD children, but also displayed differences from TD children in their usage of SVt and VtO frames; (2) Grammatical productivity was observed in both TD children and children with ASD; moreover, children with ASD with higher expressive language produced less stereotyped language; (3) Both TD children and children with ASD heard a range of word orders in their caregivers’ input, with TD children’s input greater in amount and complexity; however, caregivers of both groups also showed no age/language-related changes in word order usage; (4) Few word-order-specific correlations emerged between caregivers and their children; however, strong correlations were observed for mean length of utterances (MLU) for both groups: Caregivers who produced longer/more complex utterances had children who did the same. Taken together, it seems that despite their pragmatic deficits, the early grammatical knowledge of word order in Mandarin-exposed children with ASD is well preserved and in general follows the typical developmental pattern. Moreover, caregiver input is broadly rather than finely tuned to the linguistic development of TD children and children with ASD, and plays a more important role in children’s general syntactic development than in specific word order acquisition. Thus, early word order usage in preschool Mandarin-speaking TD children and children with ASD may be influenced by both caregiver input and child abilities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ying Alice Xu
- Child Language Lab, School of Foreign Languages, Central South University, Changsha, China
| | - Letitia R Naigles
- Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, United States
| | - Yi Esther Su
- Child Language Lab, School of Foreign Languages, Central South University, Changsha, China
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Perzolli S, Bentenuto A, Bertamini G, de Falco S, Venuti P. Father-Child Interactions in Preschool Children with ASD: A Systematic Review. Brain Sci 2021; 11:1202. [PMID: 34573223 PMCID: PMC8465967 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci11091202] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2021] [Revised: 09/02/2021] [Accepted: 09/10/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Studies on parental interaction in the context of ASD has mainly focused on mothers, even if fathers and their children seem to form close and supportive relationships that may have unique effects on child development. Given the impact of ASD symptoms on a child's ability to interact with significant others, recent findings strengthen the importance of including caregivers during treatment to guarantee a better adaptation to the child's impairments. Despite this, fathers are scarcely involved, and interventions seem to not be tailored to their interactive characteristics and needs. For this reason, a systematic review was conducted to investigate fathers and children with ASD behaviors during interaction. This review found 12 observational studies that identified social, cognitive, and affective interactive modalities in father-child dyads through three psychology-focused journal databases: PubMed, PsycINFO and Scopus. The significant variation in both sample size and in the measures used to assess dyadic outcomes limits the ability of this work to make robust recommendations for intervention. Despite this, the results revealed characteristic behaviors of this dyad that consequently allow specific targets to be worked on during intervention. In fact, from fathers' individual strengths and weaknesses, it is possible to implement interventions that are complementary with maternal characteristics from the perspective of personalized and optimized treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Silvia Perzolli
- Laboratory of Observation, Diagnosis and Education (ODFLab), Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science, University of Trento, 38122 Trento, Italy; (A.B.); (G.B.); (S.d.F.); (P.V.)
| | - Arianna Bentenuto
- Laboratory of Observation, Diagnosis and Education (ODFLab), Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science, University of Trento, 38122 Trento, Italy; (A.B.); (G.B.); (S.d.F.); (P.V.)
| | - Giulio Bertamini
- Laboratory of Observation, Diagnosis and Education (ODFLab), Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science, University of Trento, 38122 Trento, Italy; (A.B.); (G.B.); (S.d.F.); (P.V.)
- Data Science for Health (DSH), Bruno Kessler Foundation (FNK), 38123 Povo, Italy
| | - Simona de Falco
- Laboratory of Observation, Diagnosis and Education (ODFLab), Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science, University of Trento, 38122 Trento, Italy; (A.B.); (G.B.); (S.d.F.); (P.V.)
| | - Paola Venuti
- Laboratory of Observation, Diagnosis and Education (ODFLab), Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science, University of Trento, 38122 Trento, Italy; (A.B.); (G.B.); (S.d.F.); (P.V.)
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Hilvert E, Lorang E, Sterling A. Maternal Use of Decontextualized and Contextualized Talk: An In-Depth Investigation of Early Parent-Child Interactions in Down Syndrome. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SPEECH-LANGUAGE PATHOLOGY 2021; 30:1767-1780. [PMID: 34153191 PMCID: PMC8702844 DOI: 10.1044/2021_ajslp-20-00190] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2020] [Revised: 01/30/2021] [Accepted: 03/08/2021] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
Purpose The goal of this study was to characterize and quantify maternal use of decontextualized and contextualized input during mother-child interactions including young children with Down syndrome (DS). Method Participants included 22 mother-child dyads with DS (M age = 42.8 months) and 22 mother-child dyads with typical development (M age = 44.0 months). Parent-child language samples were collected during free-play, book reading, and snack time, and coded for maternal decontextualized (i.e., pretend, explanatory, and narrative talk) and contextualized input (i.e., descriptions, conversation, praise, questions, and directives). Results Mothers of children with DS used a larger proportion of pretend talk compared to other types of decontextualized input and also used a larger proportion of questions, conversation, and descriptions compared to other types of contextualized language. Mothers of children with DS generally used a smaller proportion of decontextualized input compared to mothers of children with typical development, with the exception of pretend talk. Maternal decontextualized input was not related to children's age or language ability in DS. Conclusions Findings shed new light on the early language environments of children with DS, providing important insight into the ways that mothers of children with DS are incorporating decontextualized and contextualized talk into early mother-child conversations. Additional implications and future directions are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Emily Lorang
- Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin–Madison
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Wisconsin–Madison
| | - Audra Sterling
- Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin–Madison
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Wisconsin–Madison
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Lorang EK, Sterling A. Parent Command Use and Child Compliance During Parent-Child Interactions Including Children With Down Syndrome. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SPEECH-LANGUAGE PATHOLOGY 2021; 30:1203-1209. [PMID: 33979208 PMCID: PMC8702838 DOI: 10.1044/2021_ajslp-20-00251] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2020] [Revised: 11/18/2020] [Accepted: 02/23/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Purpose This study investigated maternal and paternal command use and child compliance in children with Down syndrome during mother-child and father-child free-play interactions. We also examined child compliance to direct versus indirect commands, and the relationships between maternal command use, paternal command use, child compliance, and child speech and language abilities. Method Fifteen families including a mother, father, and child with Down syndrome participated. Mother-child and father-child dyads participated in free-play interactions. We coded overall parent command use, command type (direct or indirect), and child compliance with the commands. Child language abilities were measured using a standardized assessment as well as during free-play. Results Mothers and fathers of children with Down syndrome used a similar number of commands, and children complied similarly across interactions. Children were more likely to comply with direct versus indirect commands. Parent command use was related to child language abilities in different ways for mothers and fathers. Child compliance was not related to receptive or expressive language abilities. Conclusions Mothers and fathers of children with Down syndrome use commands in similar ways but may base their command use on different child factors. Using direct commands with children with Down syndrome may be beneficial when increasing compliance during early interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily K. Lorang
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Wisconsin, Madison
| | - Audra Sterling
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Wisconsin, Madison
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Woolard A, Lane AE, Campbell LE, Whalen OM, Swaab L, Karayanidis F, Barker D, Murphy V, Benders T. Infant and Child-Directed Speech Used with Infants and Children at Risk or Diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder: a Scoping Review. REVIEW JOURNAL OF AUTISM AND DEVELOPMENTAL DISORDERS 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s40489-021-00253-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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15
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Lee A, Knafl K, Van Riper M. Family Variables and Quality of Life in Children with Down Syndrome: A Scoping Review. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2021; 18:ijerph18020419. [PMID: 33430335 PMCID: PMC7825751 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18020419] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2020] [Revised: 12/22/2020] [Accepted: 12/28/2020] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
The purpose of this scoping review was to identify the family and child quality of life variables that have been studied in relation to one another in children with Down syndrome, the frequency with which different relationships have been studied, and the extent to which family variables were the focus of the research aims. A literature search was conducted to find studies published between January 2007 and June 2018. The initial search yielded 2314 studies; of these, 43 were selected for a final review. Researchers most often addressed family resources and family problem-solving and coping concerning child personal development and physical well-being. Little attention to child emotional well-being was observed, with none considering family appraisal of child emotional well-being. The relationship between family variables and child QoL rarely was the primary focus of the study. Methodologically, most reviewed studies used cross-sectional designs, were conducted in North America and based on maternal report. From future research considering the issues found in this review, healthcare providers can obtain an in-depth understanding of relationships between children and family variables.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Lee
- School of Nursing, Korea University, Seoul 02841, Korea
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +82-2-3290-4900
| | - Kathleen Knafl
- School of Nursing, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7460, USA; (K.K.); (M.V.R.)
| | - Marcia Van Riper
- School of Nursing, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7460, USA; (K.K.); (M.V.R.)
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Bottema-Beutel K, Kim SY. A Systematic Literature Review of Autism Research on Caregiver Talk. Autism Res 2020; 14:432-449. [PMID: 33377301 DOI: 10.1002/aur.2461] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2020] [Revised: 11/17/2020] [Accepted: 12/15/2020] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
Describing how caregivers' talk to their autistic children, and how their talk may influence social and language outcomes, has important implications for developmental theory and intervention research. In this systematic literature review, we examine 294 caregiver talk variables extracted from 65 studies, provide a narrative overview of research findings, and link measurement approaches to various theories of language development. The majority of variables included only talk directed to children (90%), and specified the speech act being performed (57%). More than one-third of variables measured talk that was responsive to children's attention, activities, or communication (38%), and slightly less than a third measured variables that elicited children's communication or engagement. Semantic aspects of talk were specified in 41% of variables, structural features were measured in 20% of variables, and suprasegmental features were measured in only 1% of variables. Talk quantity (without reference to other aspects of talk) was measured in 8% of variables. We found strong support that talk related to children's attention is implicated in autistic children's language development, but this construct has been measured inconsistently in terms of semantic, structural, and functional features. There is also evidence for bi-directional relationships between caregiver's talk and autistic children's development on a variety of semantic and structural variables. LAY SUMMARY: In our review, we found many differences in how researchers measured caregiver's talk, but also some promising leads. Researchers should continue examining caregiver talk related to children's focus of attention to clarify how this type of language contributes to autistic children's development. We also found interesting research on how children influence caregiver's talk, and encourage researchers to continue to study how this occurs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kristen Bottema-Beutel
- Lynch School of Education and Human Development, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA
| | - So Yoon Kim
- Lynch School of Education and Human Development, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA
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Zampini L, Ferrante C, Silibello G, Dall'Ara F, Rigamonti C, Zanchi P, Vizziello PG, Lalatta F, Costantino MA. Maternal input to children with sex chromosome trisomies. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE & COMMUNICATION DISORDERS 2020; 55:724-733. [PMID: 32634287 DOI: 10.1111/1460-6984.12557] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2019] [Revised: 05/17/2020] [Accepted: 05/25/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Although language difficulties are one of the most distinctive characteristics of the neuropsychological profile of children with sex chromosome trisomies (SCT), the analysis of the maternal input addressed to them is a neglected topic. AIMS The present study aims to analyse the lexical, morphosyntactic, and functional features of the input addressed to children with SCT comparing them with those of the input directed to typically developing children (TD). METHODS & PROCEDURES Participants were 38 mothers and their 8-month-old children, 19 with SCT and 19 TD children. Maternal utterances, collected during video-recorded play sessions, have been transcribed and coded. OUTCOMES & RESULTS No significant differences between groups have been found in the lexical and syntactic characteristics of maternal input. However, considering the input functional features, the proportion of directives and questions was significantly higher in the maternal input addressed to children with SCT than in the input addressed to TD children whereas the opposite pattern was found in the proportion of affect-salient speech. CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS The awareness of a possible delay in their children's language development could influence the way the mothers speak to them. In particular, the functional features of maternal input could be affected. Support groups for parents of children with SCT at the preverbal stage could be useful to reassure the mothers about their role in their children's language development. What this paper adds What is already known on the subject Studies in the literature identified a high percentage of language delays or impairments in children with SCT. To date, according to our knowledge, there are no studies that analyse the linguistic input addressed to these children. What this study adds The lexical and syntactic features of maternal input addressed to 8-month-old children with SCT are adequate to the children's communicative skills. However, the mothers of children with SCT seem to provide additional scaffolding in their verbal input, using a lower proportion of affect-salient speech and a higher proportion of questions. In addition, a higher proportion of directives suggests the use of a more demanding style. Clinical implications of this study The awareness of possible language delays could influence the functional features of input leading mothers to use a more supportive and demanding input. Support groups for parents of children with SCT at the preverbal stage could be useful to reassure the mothers about their role in their children's language development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Zampini
- Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy
| | - Camilla Ferrante
- Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy
| | - Gaia Silibello
- Child and Adolescent Neuropsychiatric Unit, Foundation IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milan, Italy
| | - Francesca Dall'Ara
- Child and Adolescent Neuropsychiatric Unit, Foundation IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milan, Italy
| | - Claudia Rigamonti
- Child and Adolescent Neuropsychiatric Unit, Foundation IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milan, Italy
| | - Paola Zanchi
- Department of Psychology, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy
| | - Paola Giovanna Vizziello
- Child and Adolescent Neuropsychiatric Unit, Foundation IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milan, Italy
| | - Faustina Lalatta
- Clinical Genetic Unit, Foundation IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milan, Italy
| | - Maria Antonella Costantino
- Child and Adolescent Neuropsychiatric Unit, Foundation IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milan, Italy
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Tubul-Lavy G, Jokel A, Leon-Attia O, Gabis LV. Content Words in Child-Directed Speech of Mothers Toward Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SPEECH-LANGUAGE PATHOLOGY 2020; 29:1434-1447. [PMID: 32463713 DOI: 10.1044/2020_ajslp-19-00170] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Purpose Our study aimed to analyze the characteristics of content word usage in mother's child-directed speech ( CDS) toward children with autism spectrum disorder compared to mother's CDS toward typically developing children. Method We analyzed the lexical characteristics of CDS of mothers of children with autism (16 dyads) and compared them from a language developmental perspective to mothers of 20 typical children at the same level of expressive language development. Results Results suggest that mothers of children with autism use equal amounts of content words at the same language level, but the content consists of significantly more concrete nouns and active verbs and rarely the use of abstract nouns, stative verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. Conclusion This study suggests that professionals and parents of children with autism should be aware of the importance of varying their language use of content words.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gila Tubul-Lavy
- Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Ono Academic College, Kiryat Ono, Israel
| | - Ariela Jokel
- Weinberg Child Development Center, Safra Children's Hospital, Tel HaShomer, Israel
- Department of Communication Disorders, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Israel
| | - Odelia Leon-Attia
- Weinberg Child Development Center, Safra Children's Hospital, Tel HaShomer, Israel
| | - Lidia V Gabis
- Weinberg Child Development Center, Safra Children's Hospital, Tel HaShomer, Israel
- Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Israel
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Kalashnikova M, Goswami U, Burnham D. Infant‐directed speech to infants at risk for dyslexia: A novel cross‐dyad design. INFANCY 2020. [DOI: 10.1111/infa.12329] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Marina Kalashnikova
- BCBL ‐ Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language San Sebastian Spain
- The MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development Western Sydney University Penrith NSW Australia
| | - Usha Goswami
- Centre for Neuroscience in Education University of Cambridge Cambridge UK
| | - Denis Burnham
- The MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development Western Sydney University Penrith NSW Australia
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Bang JY, Adiao AS, Marchman VA, Feldman HM. Language nutrition for language health in children with disorders: a scoping review. Pediatr Res 2020; 87:300-308. [PMID: 31454828 PMCID: PMC6962542 DOI: 10.1038/s41390-019-0551-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2019] [Revised: 08/09/2019] [Accepted: 08/16/2019] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
The quantity and quality of child-directed speech-language nutrition-provided to typically-developing children is associated with language outcomes-language health. Limited information is available about child-directed speech to children at biological risk of language impairments. We conducted a scoping review on caregiver child-directed speech for children with three clinical conditions associated with language impairments-preterm birth, intellectual disability, and autism-addressing three questions: (1) How does child-directed speech to these children differ from speech to typically-developing children? (2) What are the associations between child-directed speech and child language outcomes? (3) How convincing are intervention studies that aim to improve child-directed speech and thereby facilitate children's language development? We identified 635 potential studies and reviewed 57 meeting study criteria. Child-directed speech to children with all conditions was comparable to speech to language-matched children; caregivers were more directive toward children with disorders. Most associations between child-directed speech and outcomes were positive. However, several interventions had minimal effects on child language. Trials with large samples, intensive interventions, and multiple data sources are needed to evaluate child-directed speech as a means to prevent language impairment. Clinicians should counsel caregivers to use high quality child-directed speech and responsive communication styles with children with these conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Janet Y Bang
- Department of Psychology, School of Humanities and Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Aubrey S Adiao
- Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Virginia A Marchman
- Department of Psychology, School of Humanities and Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Heidi M Feldman
- Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
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Lyakso E, Frolova O, Grigorev A, Gorodnyi V, Nikolaev A. Strategies of Speech Interaction between Adults and Preschool Children with Typical and Atypical Development. Behav Sci (Basel) 2019; 9:bs9120159. [PMID: 31888116 PMCID: PMC6961051 DOI: 10.3390/bs9120159] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2019] [Revised: 12/07/2019] [Accepted: 12/13/2019] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
The goal of this research is to study the speech strategies of adults' interactions with 4-7-year-old children. The participants are "mother-child" dyads with typically developing (TD, n = 40) children, children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs, n = 20), Down syndrome (DS, n = 10), and "experimenter-orphan" pairs (n = 20). Spectrographic, linguistic, phonetic, and perceptual analyses (n = 465 listeners) of children's speech and mothers' speech (MS) are executed. The analysis of audio records by listeners (n = 10) and the elements of nonverbal behavior on the basis of video records by experts (n = 5) are made. Differences in the speech behavior strategies of mothers during interactions with TD children, children with ASD, and children with DS are revealed. The different strategies of "mother-child" interactions depending on the severity of the child's developmental disorders and the child's age are described. The same features of MS addressed to TD children with low levels of speech formation are used in MS directed to children with atypical development. The acoustic features of MS correlated with a high level of TD child speech development do not lead to a similar correlation in dyads with ASD and DS children. The perceptual and phonetic features of the speech of children of all groups are described.
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Hernandez-Ruiz E. Parent coaching of music interventions for children with ASD: A conceptual framework. NORDIC JOURNAL OF MUSIC THERAPY 2019. [DOI: 10.1080/08098131.2019.1647447] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
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Seager E, Mason-Apps E, Stojanovik V, Norbury C, Bozicevic L, Murray L. How do maternal interaction style and joint attention relate to language development in infants with Down syndrome and typically developing infants? RESEARCH IN DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES 2018; 83:194-205. [PMID: 30248582 DOI: 10.1016/j.ridd.2018.08.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2017] [Revised: 07/17/2018] [Accepted: 08/20/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Down syndrome (DS) is more detrimental to language acquisition compared to other forms of learning disability. It has been shown that early social communication skills are important for language acquisition in the typical population; however few studies have examined the relationship between early social communication and language in DS. The aim of the current study is to compare the relationship between joint attention and concurrent language skills, and maternal interactive style and concurrent language skills in infants with DS and in typically developing (TD) infants matched for mental age. We also investigated if these relationships differ between children with DS and TD children. Twenty-five infants with DS (17-23 months) and 30 TD infants (9-11 months) were assessed on measures of joint attention, maternal interactive style and language. The results indicated a significant positive relationship between responding to joint attention (RJA) and concurrent language for the DS group, and a significant positive relationship between maternal positive expressed emotion (PEEM) and concurrent language for the TD group. We hypothesise that different social-communication factors are associated with language skills in DS, at least between 17 and 23 months of age compared to TD infants of similar non-verbal and general language abilities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily Seager
- School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, Earley Gate, University of Reading, RG6 6AL, United Kingdom.
| | - Emily Mason-Apps
- School of Psychology, King Henry Building, University of Portsmouth, PO1 2DY, United Kingdom
| | - Vesna Stojanovik
- Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, Chandler House, University College London, WC1N, United Kingdom
| | - Courtenay Norbury
- Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, Chandler House, University College London, WC1N, United Kingdom
| | - Laura Bozicevic
- School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, Earley Gate, University of Reading, RG6 6AL, United Kingdom
| | - Lynne Murray
- School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, Earley Gate, University of Reading, RG6 6AL, United Kingdom
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He AX, Luyster R, Hong SJ, Arunachalam S. Personal pronoun usage in maternal input to infants at high vs. low risk for autism spectrum disorder. FIRST LANGUAGE 2018; 38:520-537. [PMID: 30828112 PMCID: PMC6395047 DOI: 10.1177/0142723718782634] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/30/2023]
Abstract
Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are prone to personal pronoun difficulties. This paper investigates maternal input as a potential contributing factor, focusing on an early developmental stage before ASD diagnosis. Using Quigley and McNally's (2013) corpus of maternal speech to infants (3-19 months; N = 19) who are either at high or low risk for a diagnosis of ASD (Quigley & McNally, 2013), we asked whether mothers used fewer pronouns with high-risk infants. Indeed, high-risk infants heard fewer second-person pronouns relative to their names than low-risk infants. We further investigated the contexts in which mothers were using infants' names. Our results indicated that mothers of high-risk infants often used the infants' names simply to get their attention by calling them. We suggest that high-risk infants may thus hear relatively fewer pronouns because their mothers spend more time trying to get their attention. This may be related to differences in social-communicative behavior between low-risk and high-risk infants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Angela Xiaoxue He
- Boston University, Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences
| | - Rhiannon Luyster
- Emerson College, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders
| | - Sung Ju Hong
- Boston University, Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences
- University of Bath, UK, Department of Psychology
| | - Sudha Arunachalam
- Boston University, Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences
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Bornstein MH, Putnick DL, Esposito G. Continuity and Stability in Development. CHILD DEVELOPMENT PERSPECTIVES 2017; 11:113-119. [PMID: 29503666 PMCID: PMC5830131 DOI: 10.1111/cdep.12221] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Abstract
Developmental science is centrally concerned with both consistency and change in characteristics through time. Consistency and change in development are tracked by group mean level continuity and individual order stability. Group mean level and individual order consistency and change are both developmentally informative and can co-exist conceptually and empirically as the two are partially orthogonal perspectives on development. Continuity and stability are broadly applicable to characteristics of the individual, dyad, and environment. Significantly, absent the distinctions we draw between mean level continuity and individual order stability, researchers who use the terms willy-nilly leave their readers in the dark as to which key feature of development is meant. In this article, we distinguish the two types of consistency and change, their measurement, importance, moderation, and implications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marc H Bornstein
- Child and Family Research, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and Nanyang Technological University
| | - Diane L Putnick
- Child and Family Research, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and Nanyang Technological University
| | - Gianluca Esposito
- Child and Family Research, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and Nanyang Technological University
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Hutchins TL, Deraway C, Prelock P, O’Neill A. Mothers’ and Children’s Story-Telling: A Study of Dyads with Typically Developing Children and Children with ASD. J Autism Dev Disord 2017; 47:1288-1304. [DOI: 10.1007/s10803-016-3022-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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Plumet MH, Veneziano E. Typical and atypical pragmatic functioning of ASD children and their partners: a study of oppositional episodes in everyday interactions. J Autism Dev Disord 2015; 45:53-67. [PMID: 24970107 DOI: 10.1007/s10803-014-2164-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
Pragmatic functioning of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) children is rarely examined in socially-meaningful contexts. This study investigates the way oppositional episodes are handled in such contexts by 25 families, 10 with ASD and 15 with typically-developing children. Oppositions occur whenever someone protests, refuses or denies someone else's action, request or statement. The analysis focuses on justifications accounting for the opposition and on their immediate persuasive effect. Analyses of 1,065 oppositional episodes show no differences in justifications among partners and children, except for ASD children with a verbal age 3-4 years, who justify less than their matched controls. The persuasive effect of justifications on children and on partners differs according to their group and verbal age. Implications of the study and future perspectives are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marie-Hélène Plumet
- LPPS (Laboratoire de Psychopathologie et Processus de Santé - EA 4057), Institut de Psychologie, Paris Descartes University, Sorbonne Paris Cité, 71, Avenue Edouard Vaillant, 92100, Boulogne-Billancourt, France,
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Perspectives on Personal Pronoun Reversal in Children with ASD: A Critical Review. JOURNAL OF EUROPEAN PSYCHOLOGY STUDENTS 2014. [DOI: 10.5334/jeps.br] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
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Limongi SCO, Oliveira EDF, Ienne LM, Andrade RV, Carvalho AMDA. The use of nouns and verbs by children with Down syndrome in two different situations. Codas 2014; 25:262-7. [PMID: 24408338 DOI: 10.1590/s2317-17822013000300012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/10/2012] [Accepted: 12/20/2012] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
PURPOSE To verify the use of nouns and verbs by children with Down syndrome and to compare this use between conditions of interaction with the mother and the Speech-language pathologist (SLP). METHODS Participants were 21 children aged between 5 and 11 years, divided into three groups, according to chronological and mental age as established by the results of the Primary Tests of Nonverbal Intelligence. The speech sample was obtained through free interaction situations that were videotaped during session of 30 minutes and transcribed in specific protocols. The first 100 utterances from the first five minutes were used. The interval between each situation ranged from 7 to 15 days. T-test and analysis of variance were used for statistical analysis and the significance level adopted was of 5%. RESULTS More verbs than nouns were used in both conditions; however, a higher number of nouns were observed during the interaction with the SLP. The between-group comparison in the interaction with the SLP shows significant differences for verbs and nouns, but during the interaction with the mother, there was tendency for difference only for the verbs. CONCLUSION The data indicate the growing development on using of nouns and verbs according to the increase of age. There was a higher use of verbs when compared with nouns mainly in the condition of interaction with the SLP.
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Turygin N, Matson JL, Tureck K. RETRACTED: ADHD symptom prevalence and risk factors in a sample of toddlers with ASD or who are at risk for developmental delay. RESEARCH IN DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES 2013; 34:4203-9. [PMID: 24077069 DOI: 10.1016/j.ridd.2013.07.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2013] [Revised: 07/09/2013] [Accepted: 07/10/2013] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
This article has been retracted: please see Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal (http://www.elsevier.com/locate/withdrawalpolicy). This article has been retracted at the request of the Editor in Chief, after review by an independent panel of experts, due to evidence of a compromised peer review process and the failure of one author to disclose significant conflicts of interest. An independent peer-review process is a cornerstone of scientific integrity that allows for research to be scrutinized before publication to ensure that conclusions are anchored in sound methodology and objective interpretation of the results. Equally important is that the readership of research is fully informed about any potential competing interests that may have influenced the research process. This article is being retracted because it did not include a declaration of a conflict of interest of one author in relation to diagnostic tools which the paper endorses. The same author was also the Editor in Chief of the journal at the time of publication and evidence indicates that the paper was accepted without any independent peer review by external reviewers. The article is therefore retracted in accordance with the ethical guidelines of Elsevier: https://www.elsevier.com/about/policies/publishing-ethics and the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) https://publicationethics.org/files/retraction-guidelines.pdf.
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Burgess S, Audet L, Harjusola-Webb S. Quantitative and qualitative characteristics of the school and home language environments of preschool-aged children with ASD. JOURNAL OF COMMUNICATION DISORDERS 2013; 46:428-439. [PMID: 24209428 DOI: 10.1016/j.jcomdis.2013.09.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/04/2012] [Revised: 09/20/2013] [Accepted: 09/21/2013] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
UNLABELLED The purpose of this research was to begin to characterize and compare the school and home language environments of 10 preschool-aged children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Naturalistic language samples were collected from each child, utilizing Language ENvironment Analysis (LENA) digital voice recorder technology, at 3-month intervals over the course of one year. LENA software was used to identify 15-min segments of each sample that represented the highest number of adult words used during interactions with each child for all school and home language samples. Selected segments were transcribed and analyzed using Systematic Analysis of Language Transcripts (SALT). LENA data was utilized to evaluate quantitative characteristics of the school and home language environments and SALT data was utilized to evaluate quantitative and qualitative characteristics of language environment. Results revealed many similarities in home and school language environments including the degree of semantic richness, and complexity of adult language, types of utterances, and pragmatic functions of utterances used by adults during interactions with child participants. Study implications and recommendations for future research are discussed. LEARNING OUTCOMES The reader will be able to, (1) describe how two language sampling technologies can be utilized together to collect and analyze language samples, (2) describe characteristics of the school and home language environments of young children with ASD, and (3) identify environmental factors that may lead to more positive expressive language outcomes of young children with ASD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sloane Burgess
- Kent State University, Speech Pathology & Audiology, A104 Music and Speech Building, Kent, OH 44242, United States.
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