Utility of the Language Use Inventory in Young Children at Elevated Likelihood of Autism.
Jessica Blume, Meghan Miller, Daniela O'Neill and 2 others
PMID 38215350WHAT IT FOUND
For 36-month-olds, low scores on the parent-report Language Use Inventory strongly tracked autism symptom severity, outperforming standard language tests.
Most children later diagnosed with autism scored at or below the 10th percentile, suggesting this tool can help flag children for urgent diagnostic referral.
Key findings
01The Language Use Inventory total score showed a strong negative correlation with ADOS-2 comparison scores, meaning lower pragmatic language scores were associated with more severe autism symptoms.
02The association between the Language Use Inventory and autism symptom severity was significantly stronger than the associations between autism symptom severity and other language measures like the MSEL and Vineland-II.
03Among the 24 children diagnosed with autism, 75% had Language Use Inventory scores at or below the first percentile, and all but one scored at or below the 10th percentile.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study used a single time point (36 months), so it does not show how well the LUI identifies autism risk in younger toddlers (e.g., 18-24 months). The group with confirmed autism diagnoses was small (n=24), which limits the stability of the percentile findings for that specific subgroup. The sample consisted entirely of siblings of children with autism or typical development, which may not represent the general pediatric population. The LUI and Vineland-II are both parent-report measures, so some of their strong correlation may be due to shared method variance rather than true convergence. The study did not compare LUI scores directly to other pragmatic language measures like the CSBS.
Declared interests
The data collection was part of a National Institutes of Health-funded investigation (Grant R01 MH068398). No other conflicts of interest are reported in the provided text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not treat a low LUI score as a diagnosis of autism. The study shows the LUI correlates with symptom severity and can flag children for referral, but it is not a diagnostic tool. Many children with low scores did not meet autism criteria, and the study did not establish the LUI's sensitivity or specificity for screening autism in a general population.