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Language Impairment and Early Social Competence in Preschoolers with Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Comparison of DSM-5 Profiles

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Abstract

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and structural language impairment (LI) may be at risk of more adverse social-developmental outcomes. We examined trajectories of early social competence (using the Vineland-II) in 330 children aged 2–4 years recently diagnosed with ASD, and compared 3 subgroups classified by: language impairment (ASD/LI); intellectual disability (ASD/ID) and ASD without LI or ID (ASD/alone). Children with ASD/LI were significantly more socially impaired at baseline than the ASD/alone subgroup, and less impaired than those with ASD/ID. Growth in social competence was significantly slower for the ASD/ID group. Many preschool-aged children with ASD/LI at time of diagnosis resembled “late talkers” who appeared to catch up linguistically. Children with ASD/ID were more severely impaired and continued to lag further behind.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Offord Centre for Child Studies, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada

    T. A. Bennett, K. Georgiades, M. Janus, S. Georgiades, E. Duku & A. Thompson

  2. University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

    P. Szatmari & W. Roberts

  3. McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada

    S. Hanna

  4. Dalhousie University/IWK Health Centre, Halifax, NS, Canada

    S. Bryson & I. M. Smith

  5. Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR, USA

    E. Fombonne

  6. University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

    P. Mirenda

  7. University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada

    J. Volden & L. Zwaigenbaum

  8. Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, BC, Canada

    C. Waddell

  9. University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada

    T. Vaillancourt

  10. McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada

    M. Elsabbagh

  11. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, Offord Centre for Child Studies, Chedoke Site, McMaster Children’s Hospital, 1200 Main St. West, Hamilton, ON, L8S 3Z5, Canada

    T. A. Bennett

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  1. T. A. Bennett
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The Pathways in ASD Study Team

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Correspondence to T. A. Bennett.

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Bennett, T.A., Szatmari, P., Georgiades, K. et al. Language Impairment and Early Social Competence in Preschoolers with Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Comparison of DSM-5 Profiles. J Autism Dev Disord 44, 2797–2808 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-014-2138-2

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