title: A Path Model of Expressive Vocabulary Skills in Initially Preverbal Preschool Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
abstract: We examined direct and indirect paths involving receptive vocabulary and diversity of key consonants used in communication (DKCC) to improve understanding of why previously identified value-added predictors are associated with later expressive vocabulary for initially preverbal children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD; n = 87). Intentional communication, DKCC, and parent linguistic responses accounted for unique variance in later expressive vocabulary when controlling for mid-point receptive vocabulary, but responding to joint attention did not. We did not confirm any indirect paths through mid-point receptive vocabulary. DKCC mediated the association between intentional communication and expressive vocabulary. Further research is needed to replicate the findings, test potentially causal relations, and provide a specific sequence of intervention targets for preverbal children with ASD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, Vanderbilt University, 1215 21st Avenue South, MCE 8310, South Tower, Nashville, TN, 37232, USA. jena.c.mcdaniel@vanderbilt.edu.
authors.forename: Jena
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-4413-3780
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: McDaniel
authors.affiliation: Department of Special Education, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Yoder
authors.affiliation: Division of Speech and Hearing Sciences, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Linda R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Watson
mesh_terms: D000067877:Autism Spectrum Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D002663:Child Language; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003142:Communication; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008037:Linguistics; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents; D014825:Vocabulary
keywords: Autism spectrum disorder; Language; Path modeling; Predictors; Preverbal; Vocabulary