title: Language impairment and early social competence in preschoolers with autism spectrum disorders: a comparison of DSM-5 profiles.
abstract: Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and structural language impairment (LI) may be at risk of more adverse social-developmental outcomes. We examined trajectories of early social competence (using the Vineland-II) in 330 children aged 2-4 years recently diagnosed with ASD, and compared 3 subgroups classified by: language impairment (ASD/LI); intellectual disability (ASD/ID) and ASD without LI or ID (ASD/alone). Children with ASD/LI were significantly more socially impaired at baseline than the ASD/alone subgroup, and less impaired than those with ASD/ID. Growth in social competence was significantly slower for the ASD/ID group. Many preschool-aged children with ASD/LI at time of diagnosis resembled "late talkers" who appeared to catch up linguistically. Children with ASD/ID were more severely impaired and continued to lag further behind.
authors.affiliation: Offord Centre for Child Studies, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada, Bennett@hhsc.ca.
authors.forename: T A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Bennett
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Szatmari
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Georgiades
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hanna
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Janus
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Georgiades
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Duku
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bryson
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Fombonne
authors.forename: I M
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mirenda
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Volden
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Waddell
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Roberts
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Vaillancourt
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zwaigenbaum
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Elsabbagh
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Thompson
mesh_terms: D002659:Child Development Disorders, Pervasive / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D007805:Language Development Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D066107:Social Skills