Autism Adversely Affects Auditory Joint Engagement During Parent-toddler Interactions.
Lauren B Adamson, Roger Bakeman, Katharine Suma and 1 others
PMID 32809260WHAT IT FOUND
Toddlers with autism were significantly less likely than typically developing peers to share sounds with their parents, even when parents actively tried to include them.
They often noticed the sounds but failed to turn that attention into a shared social experience.
Key findings
01Only 15% of toddlers with ASD spontaneously attempted to share a sound with their parent, compared to 73% of typically developing toddlers and 41% of those with other developmental delays.
02During the phase where parents actively tried to share the sound, 98% of typically developing toddlers engaged in auditory joint engagement, whereas only 70% of toddlers with ASD did so.
03Toddlers with ASD were particularly poor at orienting to speech sounds containing their own name, with only 56% orienting compared to 90% of typically developing toddlers.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study is cross-sectional, so it cannot determine if these deficits worsen or improve over time. The sample was recruited from a community-based screening project, which may not represent all children with ASD. The analysis relied on binary coding of joint engagement episodes, which may miss subtle variations in the quality of engagement. The study did not measure the child's language level, which could influence their ability to engage with speech sounds.
Declared interests
The study was supported by the National Institute of Health (N.I.H.), Extramural funding. No other conflicts of interest were reported.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that a lack of auditory joint engagement in toddlers with ASD is due to hearing loss or a lack of interest in sound. The study found that most toddlers with ASD did alert and orient to sounds, indicating they noticed them. The deficit lies in the social sharing of that attention, not in the auditory perception itself.