Visual Traces of Language Acquisition in Toddlers with Autism Spectrum Disorder During the Second Year of Life.
Serene Habayeb, Tawny Tsang, Celine Saulnier and 4 others
PMID 33009972WHAT IT FOUND
Looking at a speaker's mouth predicted better expressive language in typically developing toddlers and in autistic toddlers who had already acquired first words.
It showed no such link in nonverbal autistic toddlers. This suggests mouth-looking supports word production only after speech has begun.
Key findings
01In typically developing toddlers, increased mouth-looking was significantly associated with higher expressive language levels.
02In the full autism group, mouth-looking was not associated with expressive language, but a significant positive association appeared only in the subgroup that had acquired first words.
03Mouth-looking was not associated with receptive language in either typically developing or autistic 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 included only male toddlers, so findings may not apply to females. The design was cross-sectional, so it cannot prove that mouth-looking causes language growth or predict when nonverbal children will start speaking. Some children in the 'acquired words' group may have been entering a rapid language growth phase, which could affect how strongly mouth-looking related to their scores.
Declared interests
The authors declare no conflicts of interest. The study was conducted at NIH Autism Centers of Excellence.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that encouraging mouth-looking will help nonverbal autistic toddlers start speaking. The study found no link between mouth-looking and expressive language in children who had not yet acquired first words.