Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2016 Feb;9(2):301-10.
doi: 10.1002/aur.1516. Epub 2015 Jul 14.

Atypical Cross-Modal Profiles and Longitudinal Associations Between Vocabulary Scores in Initially Minimally Verbal Children With ASD

Tiffany Woynaroski  1 , Paul Yoder  2 , Linda R Watson  3
Affiliations

Atypical Cross-Modal Profiles and Longitudinal Associations Between Vocabulary Scores in Initially Minimally Verbal Children With ASD

Tiffany Woynaroski et al. Autism Res. 2016 Feb.

Abstract

We tested the relative levels (i.e., age equivalencies) of concurrent cross-modality (receptive and expressive) vocabulary and the relative strength of the longitudinal, cross-modality associations between early and later vocabulary sizes in minimally verbal preschoolers with ASD. Eighty-seven children participated. Parent-reported vocabulary was assessed at four periods separated by 4 months each. Expressive age equivalent scores were higher than receptive age equivalent scores at all four periods. Cross-lagged panel analysis was used to rule out common, but trivial, explanations for differences between the longitudinal associations of interest. Key associations were tested across intervals that varied from 8 to 12 months. In two of the three tested panels, the associations between early expressive vocabulary size and later receptive vocabulary size were stronger than the associations between early receptive vocabulary size and later expressive vocabulary size, providing evidence that is consistent with the hypothesis that expressive vocabulary size drives receptive vocabulary size in minimally verbal preschoolers with ASD.

Keywords: autism; longitudinal; minimally verbal; spoken language; useful speech; vocabulary.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. American Psychiatric Association . Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders-IV-TR. APA.; Washington, DC: 2000.
    1. Baldwin D. Infants’ ability to consult the speaker for clues to word reference. Journal of Child Language. 1993;20:395–418. doi:10.1017/S0305000900008345. - PubMed
    1. Barbaro J, Dissanayake C. Developmental profiles of infants and toddlers with autism spectrum disorders identified prospectively in a community-based setting. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. 2012;42(9):1939–1948. doi:10.1007/s10803-012-1441-z. - PubMed
    1. Baron-Cohen S, Baldwin DA, Crowson M. Do children with autism use the speaker's direction of gaze strategy to crack the code of language? Child Development. 1997;68(1):48–57. doi:10.2307/1131924. - PubMed
    1. Bates E, Dale P, Thal D, editors. Individual differences and their implications for theories of language development. Blackwell; Cambridge, MA: 1995.

Publication types