title: Severe multisensory speech integration deficits in high-functioning school-aged children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and their resolution during early adolescence.
abstract: Under noisy listening conditions, visualizing a speaker's articulations substantially improves speech intelligibility. This multisensory speech integration ability is crucial to effective communication, and the appropriate development of this capacity greatly impacts a child's ability to successfully navigate educational and social settings. Research shows that multisensory integration abilities continue developing late into childhood. The primary aim here was to track the development of these abilities in children with autism, since multisensory deficits are increasingly recognized as a component of the autism spectrum disorder (ASD) phenotype. The abilities of high-functioning ASD children (n = 84) to integrate seen and heard speech were assessed cross-sectionally, while environmental noise levels were systematically manipulated, comparing them with age-matched neurotypical children (n = 142). Severe integration deficits were uncovered in ASD, which were increasingly pronounced as background noise increased. These deficits were evident in school-aged ASD children (5-12 year olds), but were fully ameliorated in ASD children entering adolescence (13-15 year olds). The severity of multisensory deficits uncovered has important implications for educators and clinicians working in ASD. We consider the observation that the multisensory speech system recovers substantially in adolescence as an indication that it is likely amenable to intervention during earlier childhood, with potentially profound implications for the development of social communication abilities in ASD children.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Department of Neuroscience, The Sheryl and Daniel R. Tishman Cognitive Neurophysiology Laboratory, Children's Evaluation and Rehabilitation Center (CERC), Department of Psychology, The Cognitive Neurophysiology Laboratory, Program in Cognitive Neuroscience, City College of the City University of New York, New York, NY 10031, USA Department of Biology, The Cognitive Neurophysiology Laboratory, Program in Cognitive Neuroscience, City College of the City University of New York, New York, NY 10031, USA.
authors.forename: John J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Foxe
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Department of Neuroscience, The Sheryl and Daniel R. Tishman Cognitive Neurophysiology Laboratory, Children's Evaluation and Rehabilitation Center (CERC), Department of Psychology, The Cognitive Neurophysiology Laboratory, Program in Cognitive Neuroscience, City College of the City University of New York, New York, NY 10031, USA Department of Biology, The Cognitive Neurophysiology Laboratory, Program in Cognitive Neuroscience, City College of the City University of New York, New York, NY 10031, USA.
authors.forename: Sophie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Molholm
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Department of Neuroscience, The Sheryl and Daniel R. Tishman Cognitive Neurophysiology Laboratory, Children's Evaluation and Rehabilitation Center (CERC), Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461, USA.
authors.forename: Victor A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Del Bene
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Department of Neuroscience, The Sheryl and Daniel R. Tishman Cognitive Neurophysiology Laboratory, Children's Evaluation and Rehabilitation Center (CERC).
authors.forename: Hans-Peter
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Frey
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Department of Neuroscience, The Sheryl and Daniel R. Tishman Cognitive Neurophysiology Laboratory, Children's Evaluation and Rehabilitation Center (CERC), Department of Psychology, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY 13244, USA.
authors.forename: Natalie N
authors.initials: NN
authors.lastname: Russo
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Department of Neuroscience, The Sheryl and Daniel R. Tishman Cognitive Neurophysiology Laboratory, Children's Evaluation and Rehabilitation Center (CERC), Department of Psychology, The Cognitive Neurophysiology Laboratory, Program in Cognitive Neuroscience, City College of the City University of New York, New York, NY 10031, USA Department of Biology, The Cognitive Neurophysiology Laboratory, Program in Cognitive Neuroscience, City College of the City University of New York, New York, NY 10031, USA.
authors.forename: Daniella
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Blanco
authors.affiliation: Centre de Recherche, CHU Sainte-Justine, 3175, Côte-Sainte-Catherine Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada H3T 1C5 Département de Psychologie, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), Montréal, QC, Canada H3C 3P8 and.
authors.forename: Dave
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Saint-Amour
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Department of Neuroscience, The Sheryl and Daniel R. Tishman Cognitive Neurophysiology Laboratory, Children's Evaluation and Rehabilitation Center (CERC), The Gordon F. Derner Institute of Advanced Psychological Studies, Adelphi University, Garden City, NY 11530, USA.
authors.forename: Lars A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Ross
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D002659:Child Development Disorders, Pervasive; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005133:Eye Movements; D006801:Humans; D007360:Intelligence; D009039:Motion Perception; D009622:Noise; D046709:Pattern Recognition, Physiological; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D013067:Speech Perception
keywords: autism spectrum disorders; cross-modal; development; sensory integration; speech-in-noise