Are minimally verbal autistic children's modality and form of communication associated with parent responsivity?
Chelsea La Valle, Lue Shen, Lindsay K Butler and 1 others
PMID 38690644WHAT IT FOUND
Parents of minimally verbal autistic children gave similar relevant responses whether the child used spoken language, gesture, gesture-speech combinations, AAC, or less precise forms.
Clinicians should assess all communication modes, not focus only on intelligible speech.
Key findings
01There was no significant difference in parent semantically contingent responses based on child communication modality (spoken language, gesture, gesture-speech combinations, AAC).
02There was no significant difference in parent semantically contingent responses based on child form of communication (precise versus imprecise).
03Of 47 participants, 17.0% used four modalities, 42.6% used three modalities, 29.8% used two modalities, and 10.6% used one modality.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The parent-child interaction was recorded at only one timepoint, for 15 minutes, and parents chose the activities, so the result may not reflect the child's usual communication. The study did not assign or test an intervention; it observed whether parent responses varied with child communication, so it cannot show that any treatment caused change. The authors note the definition of minimally verbal was less stringent than in some other studies. Gaze behaviors, communicative functions, and receptive language were not coded, so important interaction cues may have been missed. The study was remote and carried out during the coronavirus pandemic, which may have affected the home interaction conditions.
Declared interests
The authors report no conflicts of interest. The article is listed as supported by NIH extramural funding.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that the child's communication mode or precision does not matter. The study measured only parent semantically contingent responses in one 15-minute home interaction; it did not test language learning, treatment effects, or whether unfamiliar adults respond the same way.