title: Spontaneous initiation of communication in infants at low and heightened risk for autism spectrum disorders.
abstract: Communication spontaneously initiated by infants at heightened risk (HR; n = 15) for autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is compared with that in low-risk (LR; n = 15) infants at 13 and 18 months of age. Infants were observed longitudinally during naturalistic in-home interaction and semistructured play with caregivers. At both ages, HR infants spontaneously produced Words, Communicative Non-Word Vocalizations, show and point Gestures, and Gesture + Non-Word Vocalization combinations at lower rates than LR peers. This difference also held for Gesture + Word combinations at 18 but not 13 months. At 36 months, all HR children were evaluated for ASD, and 3 received a diagnosis of autistic disorder. At both 13 and 18 months, these 3 children had been at or near the bottom of the distribution on all spontaneous communication variables.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology.
authors.forename: Breanna M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Winder
authors.forename: Robert H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Wozniak
authors.forename: Meaghan V
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Parladé
authors.forename: Jana M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Iverson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D002659:Child Development Disorders, Pervasive / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D003142:Communication; D005260:Female; D005868:Gestures; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D018730:Infant Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013060:Speech / Q000502:physiology