title: Using the preschool language scale, fourth edition to characterize language in preschoolers with autism spectrum disorders.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The Preschool Language Scale, Fourth Edition (PLS-4; Zimmerman, Steiner, & Pond, 2002) was used to examine syntactic and semantic language skills in preschool children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) to determine its suitability for use with this population. We expected that PLS-4 performance would be better in more intellectually able children and that receptive skills would be relatively more impaired than expressive abilities, consistent with previous findings in the area of vocabulary.
  
  
  METHODS
  Our sample consisted of 294 newly diagnosed preschool children with ASD. Children were assessed via a battery of developmental measures, including the PLS-4.
  
  
  RESULTS
  As expected, PLS-4 scores were higher in more intellectually able children with ASD, and overall, expressive communication was higher than auditory comprehension. However, this overall advantage was not stable across nonverbal developmental levels. Expressive skills were significantly better than receptive skills at the youngest developmental levels, whereas the converse applied in children with more advanced development.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The PLS-4 can be used to obtain a general index of early syntax and semantic skill in young children with ASD. Longitudinal data will be necessary to determine how the developmental relationship between receptive and expressive language skills unfolds in children with ASD.
authors.affiliation: University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.joanne.volden@ualberta.ca
authors.forename: Joanne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Volden
authors.forename: Isabel M
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Szatmari
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bryson
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Fombonne
authors.forename: Pat
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mirenda
authors.forename: Wendy
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Roberts
authors.forename: Tracy
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Vaillancourt
authors.forename: Charlotte
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Waddell
authors.forename: Lonnie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zwaigenbaum
authors.forename: Stelios
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Georgiades
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Duku
authors.forename: Ann
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Thompson
mesh_terms: D002657:Child Development; D002659:Child Development Disorders, Pervasive / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002663:Child Language; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007805:Language Development Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D007807:Language Tests / Q000592:standards*; D016014:Linear Models; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012660:Semantics