Social engagement, pretend play, and concern for another's distress represent fundamental features of typical social-emotional development in the second year. Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) display delays and deficits in these areas, and research on toddlers at heightened risk for ASD (HR; younger siblings of children with ASD)…

We examined the communicative intentions behind parents' deictic gesture use with high-risk infants later diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD; n = 17), high-risk infants who were not diagnosed with ASD (n = 25), and low-risk infants (n = 28) at 12 months and assessed the extent to which the parental deictic gesture intentions predicted…

Longitudinal studies have generally reported poor outcomes in adulthood for the majority of individuals (c.50-60%) with autism. Several factors putatively predict outcome (e.g. IQ), but findings remain mixed. This paper presents an updated meta-analysis of autism outcome studies and extends previous findings with additional analyses (including…

The current study investigated the impact of birth order on vocabulary and social language development in 1338 first-born and 1049 s-born autistic youth (M age = 9.03 years, SD = 3.57; 86.4% male) from the Simons Simplex Collection. Frequentist and Bayesian analyses revealed mixed findings in language development. There were no differences in…

This nine-year longitudinal study addresses the joint contribution of parent-rated negative controlling parenting and child personality on psychosocial outcomes in 141 families of children with autism spectrum disorder (83% boys, mean age Time 1 = 10.1). Latent change modeling revealed substantial variation in within-person change in parenting and…

We explored reading comprehension development in children on the spectrum from pre-school to the first (YOS1) and third year of schooling (YOS3). Children were first assessed on meaning-related skills in pre-school. Forty-one children completed follow-up assessments of reading comprehension, reading accuracy, and listening comprehension in YOS1.…

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) produce fewer deictic gestures, accompanied by delays/deviations in speech development, compared to typically-developing (TD) children. We ask whether children with ASD--like TD children--show right-hand preference in gesturing and whether right-handed gestures predict their vocabulary size in speech.…

We investigated infant's manual motor behaviour; specifically behaviours crossing the body midline. Infants at elevated likelihood of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and/or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) produced fewer manual behaviours that cross the midline compared to infants with a typical likelihood of developing these…

This study aims to identify predictors of treatment outcome in young children with ASD within a European context, where service provision of intervention remains sporadic. We investigated whether a child's age at baseline, intensity of the intervention provided, type of intervention, child's level of social orienting and cognitive skills at…

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is associated with deficient comprehension of figurative language and, specifically, idioms. Theories ascribe this to deficits in specific abilities (e.g., Theory of Mind [ToM]; executive functions [EF]; general language skills), but no comprehensive theory has resulted. This study investigated the differential…

This study explored regression patterns in 100 children with ASD (3-11 years) using several approaches to enhance the validity of retrospective parent report. Both early development and outcome were examined in regression groups defined by 36 months age cut-off and two underlying empirical patterns based on type and onset age. Results over…

Comprehensive interventions for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often incorporate augmentative and alternative communication (AAC); however, variability in outcomes exists even among children who access similar intervention. This study investigated predictors of expressive language change for 48 children with ASD aged 31 to 67 months…

This study examined whether the therapeutic relationship in music therapy with children with Autism Spectrum Disorder predicts generalized changes in social skills. Participants (4-7 years, N = 48) were assessed at baseline, 5 and 12 months. The therapeutic relationship, as observed from session videos, and the generalized change in social skills,…

The Early Start Denver Model (ESDM) is an intervention program recommended for pre-schoolers with autism ages 12-48 months. The rationale for this recommendation is the potential for intervention to affect developmental trajectories during early sensitive periods. We investigated outcomes of 32 children aged 18-48 months and 28 children aged…

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) vary greatly in social functioning, and in turn, long-term relational and academic outcomes. Responsive parenting which follows a child's lead and focus of attention is predictive of language and social gains for children with or without developmental risk. The present study prospectively assessed 176…