Purpose: The present study explored the extent to which early prelinguistic communication skills predict expressive language in toddlers with autistic siblings (Sibs-autism), who are known to be at high likelihood for autism and language disorder, and a comparison group of toddlers with non-autistic older siblings (Sibs-NA). Method: Participants…

Purpose: Toddlers with Down syndrome (DS) showcase comparable or higher rates of gestures than chronological age-- and language-matched toddlers without DS. Little is known about how gesture use in toddlers with DS relates to multiple domains of development, including motor, pragmatics, language, and visual reception (VR) skills. Unexplored is…

Purpose: Children with autism are found to have delayed and heterogeneous gesture abilities. It is important to understand the growth of gesture abilities and the underlying factors affecting its growth. Addressing these issues can help to design effective intervention programs. Method: Thirty-five Chinese-speaking preschoolers with autism…

One of the earliest indicators of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is delay in language and social communication. Despite consensus on the benefits of earlier diagnosis and intervention, our understanding of the language growth of children with ASD during the first years of life remains limited. Therefore, this study compared communication growth…

Retrospective video analyses indicate that disruptions in gesture use occur as early as 9-12 months of age in infants later diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). We report a prospective study of gesture use in 42 children identified as at-risk for ASD using a general population screening. At age 13-15 months, gestures were more disrupted…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine whether scoring of the gestures point, give, and show were correlated across measurement tools used to assess gesture production in children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Method: Seventy-eight children with ASD between the ages of 23 and 37 months participated. Correlational analyses…

Background: Nonverbal communication abilities, including gesture use, are impaired in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, little is known about how common gestures may influence or be influenced by other areas of development. Aims: To examine the relationships between gesture, fine motor and language in young children with ASD compared with a…

This community effectiveness trial examined the feasibility and efficacy of a comprehensive psychosocial treatment for 28 children, aged 7 to 10 years with high-functioning autism spectrum disorders (HFASDs). Treatment included instruction and therapeutic activities targeting social skills, face-emotion recognition skills, interest expansion, and…