SLPCohortJournal of autism and developmental disorders2021

Longitudinal Differences in Response to Name Among Infants Developing ASD and Risk for ADHD.

Burt Hatch, Ana-Maria Iosif, Annie Chuang and 3 others

PMID 31974800

WHAT IT FOUND

Failing to orient to name at 24 months predicted later ASD, not ADHD concerns.

At 12 to 18 months it was less clear which outcome it meant. Passing was a better sign of no ASD or ADHD concerns than failing was of having them.

Key findings

01Children later classified with ASD were increasingly likely to fail response to name through 24 months, and differed from comparison children at 12, 24, and 36 months.

02Failing at 24 months was a better predictor of ASD than ADHD concerns: sensitivity was 0.58 and positive predictive value was 0.71 for ASD, compared with sensitivity 0.05 for ADHD concerns.

03Passing response to name was a better marker for not having ASD or ADHD concerns than failing was for having them.

STILL TO COME

How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs

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What it does not show

The ASD and ADHD Concerns outcome groups were small (26 and 18 children), so subtle differences may have been missed. The ADHD Concerns group was based on preschool ADHD symptoms and was not followed to confirm later ADHD diagnosis. The sample was enriched for family history of ASD or ADHD, so prognostic values may not transfer to general clinic populations. The Comparison group included children with other concerns, such as speech-language delays. Response to name was scored only as pass or fail based on eye contact, not response latency or other nuanced behaviors. Only 51% had data for all 5 visits.

Declared interests

The authors reported no conflicts of interest.

The easy way to misread this

Do not read failing to orient to name as a diagnosis. At 12 to 18 months it was less clear which outcome it meant, and even at 24 months it had sensitivity 0.58 for ASD, so many children later classified with ASD would not be caught by this test alone.

Read it on PubMed →