Advertisement

Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders

, Volume 44, Issue 10, pp 2413–2428 | Cite as

Vocal Patterns in Infants with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Canonical Babbling Status and Vocalization Frequency

  • Elena PattenEmail author
  • Katie Belardi
  • Grace T. Baranek
  • Linda R. Watson
  • Jeffrey D. Labban
  • D. Kimbrough Oller
Original Paper
First Online:

Abstract

Canonical babbling is a critical milestone for speech development and is usually well in place by 10 months. The possibility that infants with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) show late onset of canonical babbling has so far eluded evaluation. Rate of vocalization or “volubility” has also been suggested as possibly aberrant in infants with ASD. We conducted a retrospective video study examining vocalizations of 37 infants at 9–12 and 15–18 months. Twenty-three of the 37 infants were later diagnosed with ASD and indeed produced low rates of canonical babbling and low volubility by comparison with the 14 typically developing infants. The study thus supports suggestions that very early vocal patterns may prove to be a useful component of early screening and diagnosis of ASD.

Keywords

Canonical babbling Volubility Vocal patterns Early detection 
This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.

Notes

Acknowledgments

This research was made possible through a grant from the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development (R01-HD42168) and a Grant from Cure Autism Now Foundation (Sensory-Motor and Social-Communicative Symptoms of Autism in Infancy). We thank the families whose participation made this study possible and the staff who collected and processed data for this project.

References

  1. American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed., text rev.). Washington, DC: Author.Google Scholar
  2. Baranek, G. T. (1999). Autism during infancy: A retrospective video analysis of sensory-motor and social behaviors at 9–12 months of age. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 29, 213–224.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  3. Baranek, G. T., Watson, L. R., Boyd, B. A., Poe, M. D., David, F. J., & McGuire, L. (2013). Hyporesponsiveness to social and nonsocial sensory stimuli in children with autism, children with developmental delays, and typically developing children. Development and Psychopathology, 25(2013), 307–320.PubMedPubMedCentralCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  4. Bleile, K. M., Stark, R. E., & McGowan, J. S. (1993). Speech development in a child after decannulation: Further evidence that babbling facilitates later speech development. Clinical Linguistics and Phonetics, 7, 319–337.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  5. Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (2012). Prevalence of autism spectrum disorders—autism and developmental disabilities monitoring network, 14 Sites, United States, 2008. Morbidity and mortality weekly report surveillance summaries, 61 1–19. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/ss6103a1.htm.
  6. Chapman, K., Hardin-Jones, M., Schulte, J., & Halter, K. (2001). Vocal development of 9 months-old babies with cleft palate. Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research, 44, 1268–1283.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  7. Chawarska, K., Klin, A., Paul, R., Macari, S., & Volkmar, F. (2009). A prospective study of toddlers with ASD: Short-term diagnostic and cognitive outcomes. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 50(10), 1235–1245.Google Scholar
  8. Clement, C. J. (2004). Development of vocalizations in deaf and normally hearing infants. (Ph.D. dissertation), Netherlands Graduate School of Linguistics, Amsterdam.Google Scholar
  9. Cobo-Lewis, A. B., Oller, D. K., Lynch, M. P., & Levine, S. L. (1996). Relations of motor and vocal milestones in typically developing infants and infants with Down syndrome. American Journal on Mental Retardation, 100, 456–467.PubMedGoogle Scholar
  10. Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
  11. Davis, B. L., Morrison, H. M., von Hapsburg, D., & Warner, A. D. (2005). Early vocal patterns in infants with varied hearing levels. Volta Review, 105(1), 17–27.Google Scholar
  12. Delgado, C. E. F., Messinger, D. S., & Yale, M. E. (2002). Infant responses to direction of parental gaze: A comparison of two still-face conditions. Infant Behavior and Development, 25(3), 311–318.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  13. Eilers, R. E., & Oller, D. K. (1994). Infant vocalizations and the early diagnosis of severe hearing impairment. The Journal of Pediatrics, 124(2), 199–203.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  14. Eilers, R. E., Oller, D. K., Levine, S., Basinger, D., Lynch, M. P., & Urbano, R. (1993). The role of prematurity and socioeconomic status in the onset of canonical babbling in infants. Infant Behavior and Development, 16, 297–315.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  15. Goldstein, M. H., King, A. P., & West, M. J. (2003). Social interaction shapes babbling: Testing parallels between birdsong and speech. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 100(13), 8030–8035.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  16. Goldstein, M. H., & Schwade, J. A. (2008). Social feedback to infants’ babbling facilitates rapid phonological learning. Psychological Science, 19, 515–522.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  17. Goldstein, M. H., Schwade, J. A., & Bornstein, M. H. (2009). The value of vocalizing: Five-month-old infants associate their own noncry vocalizations with responses from adults. Child Development, 80, 636–644.PubMedPubMedCentralCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  18. Goldstein, M. H., & West, M. J. (1999). Consistent responses of human mothers to prelinguistic infants: The effect of prelinguistic repertoire size. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 113(1), 52–58.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  19. Hart, B., & Risley, T. R. (1995). Meaningful differences in the everyday experience of young American children. Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes.Google Scholar
  20. Hulit, L. M., & Howard, M. R. (2002). Born to talk: An introduction to speech and language development. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.Google Scholar
  21. Kent, R., Osberger, M. J., Netsell, R., & Hustedde, C. G. (1987). Phonetic development identical twins differing in auditory function. Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders, 52, 64–75.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  22. Koopmans-van Beinum, F. J., Clement, C. J., & van den Dikkenberg-Pot, I. (1998). Influence of lack of auditory speech perception on sound productions of deaf infants. Berne, Switzerland: International Society for the Study of Behavioral Development.Google Scholar
  23. Koopmans-van Beinum, F. J., & van der Stelt, J. M. (1986). Early stages in the development of speech movements. In B. Lindblom & R. Zetterstrom (Eds.), Precursors of early speech (pp. 37–50). New York: Stockton Press.Google Scholar
  24. Lewedag, V. L. (1995). Patterns of onset of canonical babbling among typically developing infants. (Doctoral dissertation), University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL.Google Scholar
  25. Locke, J. L., & Pearson, D. (1990). Linguistic significance of babbling: Evidence from a tracheostomized infant. Journal of Child Language, 17, 1–16.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  26. Lord, C. (1995). Follow-up of 2-year-olds referred for possible autism. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 36(8), 1365–1382.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  27. Lord, C., Rutter, M., DiLavore, P., & Risi, S. (1999). Autism diagnostic observation schedule (ADOS). Los Angeles, CA: Western Psychological Services.Google Scholar
  28. Lynch, M. P., Oller, D. K., Steffens, M. L., & Buder, E. H. (1995a). Phrasing in prelinguistic vocalizations. Developmental Psychobiology, 28, 3–23.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  29. Lynch, M. P., Oller, D. K., Steffens, M. L., Levine, S. L., Basinger, D., & Umbel, V. (1995b). The onset of speech-like vocalizations in infants with Down syndrome. American Journal of Mental Retardation, 100(1), 68–86.PubMedGoogle Scholar
  30. Manjiviona, J., & Prior, M. (1995). Comparison of Asperger syndrome and high-functioning autistic children on a test of motor impairment. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 25, 23–29.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  31. Masataka, N. (2001). Why early linguistic milestones are delayed in children with Williams syndrome: Late onset of hand banging as a possible rate-limiting constraint on the emergence of canonical babbling. Developmental Science, 4, 158–164.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  32. Matson, J. L., Fodstad, J. C., & Dempsey, T. (2009). What symptoms predict the diagnosis of autism or PDD-NOS in infants and toddlers with developmental delays using the Baby and Infant Screen for Autism Traits. Developmental Neurorehabilitation, 12(6), 381–388.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  33. Matson, J. L., Mahan, S., Hess, J. A., Fodstad, J. C., & Neal, D. (2010). Convergent validity of the Autism Spectrum Disorder-Diagnostic for Children (ASD-DC) and Childhood Autism Rating Scales (CARS). Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 4(4), 633–638.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  34. Miller, L. J., Reisman, J. E., McIntosh, D. N., & Simon, J. (2001). An ecological model of sensory modulation: Performance in children with fragile X syndrome, autistic disorder, attention–deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and sensory modulation dysfunction. In S. Smith-Roley, E. I. Blanche, & R. C. Schaaf (Eds.), Understanding the nature of sensory integration with diverse populations (pp. 57–88). San Antonio, TX: Therapy Skill Builders.Google Scholar
  35. Molemans, I. (2011). Sounds like babbling: A longitudinal investigation of aspects of the prelexical speech repertoire in young children acquiring Dutch: Normally hearing children and hearing impaired children with a cochlear implant (Ph.D.), University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium.Google Scholar
  36. Molemans, I., Van den Berg, R., Van Severen, L., & Gillis, S. (2011). How to measure the onset of babbling reliably. Journal of Child Language, 39, 1–30.Google Scholar
  37. Mullen, E. M. (1995). Mullen Scales of Early Learning (AGS ed.). Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Service.Google Scholar
  38. Nathani, S., Oller, D. K., & Neal, A. R. (2007). On the robustness of vocal development: An examination of infants with moderate-to-severe hearing loss and additional risk factors. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 50(6), 1425–1444.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  39. Obenchain, P., Menn, L., & Yoshinaga-Itano, C. (1998). Can speech development at 36 months in children with hearing loss be predicted from information available in the second year of life? Volta Review, 100, 149–180.Google Scholar
  40. Oller, D. K. (1980). The emergence of the sounds of speech in infancy. In G. Yeni-Komshian, J. Kavanagh, & C. Ferguson (Eds.), Child phonology (Vol. 1, pp. 93–112)., Production New York: Academic Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  41. Oller, D. K. (2000). The emergence of the speech capacity. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
  42. Oller, D. K., & Eilers, R. E. (1982). Similarities of babbling in Spanish- and English-learning babies. Journal of Child Language, 9, 565–578.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  43. Oller, D. K., & Eilers, R. E. (1988). The role of audition in infant babbling. Child Development, 59, 441–449.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  44. Oller, D. K., Eilers, R. E., & Basinger, D. (2001). Intuitive identification of infant vocal sounds by parents. Developmental Science, 4, 49–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  45. Oller, D. K., Eilers, R. E., Basinger, D., Steffens, M. L., & Urbano, R. (1995). Extreme poverty and the development of precursors to the speech capacity. First Language, 15, 167–188.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  46. Oller, D. K., Eilers, R. E., Neal, A. R., & Cobo-Lewis, A. B. (1998). Late onset canonical babbling: A possible early marker of abnormal development. American Journal on Mental Retardation, 103, 249–265.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  47. Oller, D. K., Eilers, R. E., Neal, A. R., & Schwartz, H. K. (1999). Precursors to speech in infancy: The prediction of speech and language disorders. Journal of Communication Disorders, 32, 223–246.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  48. Oller, D. K., Eilers, R. E., Steffens, M. L., Lynch, M. P., & Urbano, R. (1994). Speech-like vocalizations in infancy: An evaluation of potential risk factors. Journal of Child Language, 21, 33–58.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  49. Oller, D. K., Eilers, R. E., Urbano, R., & Cobo-Lewis, A. B. (1997). Development of precursors to speech in infants exposed to two languages. Journal of Child Language, 27, 407–425.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  50. Oller, D. K., Niyogi, P., Gray, S., Richards, J. A., Gilkerson, J., Xu, D., et al. (2010). Automated vocal analysis of naturalistic recordings from children with autism, language delay and typical development. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107, 13354–13359.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  51. Osterling, J. A., Dawson, G., & Munson, J. A. (2002). Early recognition of 1-year-old infants with autism spectrum disorder versus mental retardation. Development and Psychopathology, 14(2), 239–251.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  52. Ozonoff, S., Iosif, A., Baguio, F., Cook, I. C., Hill, M. M., Hutman, T., et al. (2010). A prospective study of the emergence of early behavioral signs of autism. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 49(3), 256–266.PubMedPubMedCentralGoogle Scholar
  53. Page, J., & Boucher, J. (1998). Motor impairments in children with autistic disorder. Child Language Teaching and Therapy, 14(3), 233.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  54. Papoušek, M. (1994). Vom ersten Schrei zum ersten Wort: Anfänge der Sprachentwickelung in der vorsprachlichen Kommunikation. Bern: Verlag Hans Huber.Google Scholar
  55. Paul, R., Augustyn, A., Klin, A., & Volkmar, F. R. (2005). Perception and production of prosody by speakers with ASD spectrum disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 35, 205–220.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  56. Paul, R., Fuerst, Y., Ramsay, G., Chawarska, K., & Klin, A. (2011). Out of the mouths of babes: Vocal production in infant siblings of children with ASD. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 52(5), 588–598.PubMedPubMedCentralCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  57. Peppe, S., McCann, J., Gibbon, F., O’Hara, A., & Rutherford, M. (2007). Receptive and expressive prosodic ability in children with high-functioning ASD. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 50, 1015–1028.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  58. Ramsdell, H. L., Oller, D. K., Buder, E. H., Ethington, C. A., & Chorna, L. (2012). Identification of prelinguistic phonological categories. Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research, 55, 1626–1629.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  59. Robins, D. I., Fein, D., Barton, M. I., & Green, J. A. (2001). The modified checklist for autism in toddlers: An initial study investigating the early detection of autism and pervasive developmental disorders. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 31, 131–144.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  60. Rogers, S. J., & Ozonoff, S. (2005). Annotation: What do we know about sensory dysfunction in autism? A critical review of the empirical evidence. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 46(12), 1255–1268.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  61. Ross, G. S. (1983). Language functioning and speech development of six children receiving tracheostomy in infancy. Journal of Communication Disorders, 15, 95–111.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  62. Rutter, M., Le Couteur, A., & Lord, C. (2003). Autism diagnostic interview-revised. Los Angeles, CA: Western Psychological Services.Google Scholar
  63. Schopler, E., Reichler, R. J., & Rochen Renner, B. (1992). The Childhood Autism Rating Scale. Lost Angeles, CA: Western Psychological Services.Google Scholar
  64. Sheinkopf, S. J., Mundy, P., Oller, D. K., & Steffens, M. (2000). Vocal atypicalities of preverbal autistic children. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 30, 345–353.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  65. Simon, B. M., Fowler, S. M., & Handler, S. D. (1983). Communication development in young children with long-term tracheostomies: Preliminary report. International Journal of Otorhinolaryngology, 6, 37–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  66. Snow, C. E. (1995). Issues in the study of input: Fine-tuning universality, individual and developmental differences and necessary causes. In B. MacWhinney & P. Fletcher (Eds.), NETwerken: Bijdragen van het vijfde NET symposium: Antwerp Papers in Linguistics 74 (pp. 5–17). Antwerp: University of Antwerp.Google Scholar
  67. Sparrow, S. S., Balla, D. A., & Cicchetti, D. V. (1984). Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales. Circle Pines, MN: American Guidance Service.Google Scholar
  68. Stark, R. E. (1980). Stages of speech development in the first year of life. In G. Yeni-Komshian, J. Kavanagh, & C. Ferguson (Eds.), Child phonology (Vol. 1, pp. 73–90). New York: Academic Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  69. Stark, R. E., Ansel, B. M., & Bond, J. (1988). Are prelinguistic abilities predictive of learning disability? A follow-up study. In R. L. Masland & M. Masland (Eds.), Preschool prevention of reading failure. Parkton, MD: York Press.Google Scholar
  70. Stoel-Gammon, C. (1989). Prespeech and early speech development of two late talkers. First Language, 9, 207–224.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  71. Stoel-Gammon, C. (2011). Relationships between lexical and phonological development in young children. Journal of Child Language, 38(1), 1–34.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  72. Stoel-Gammon, C., & Otomo, K. (1986). Babbling development of hearing impaired and normally hearing subjects. Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders, 51, 33–41.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  73. Teitelbaum, P., Teitelbaum, O., Nye, J., Fryman, J., & Maurer, R. G. (1998). Movement analysis in infancy may be useful for early diagnosis of autism. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 95(23), 13982–13987.PubMedPubMedCentralCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  74. Tronick, E. Z. (1982). Social interchange in infancy. Baltimore: University Park Press.Google Scholar
  75. Van den Dikkenberg-Pot, I., Koopmans-van Beinum, F., & Clement, C. (1998). Influence of lack of auditory speech perception of sound productions of deaf infants. Proceedings of the Institute of Phonetic Sciences, University of Amsterdam, 22, 47–60.Google Scholar
  76. Vihman, M. M. (1996). Phonological development: The origins of language in the child. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell.Google Scholar
  77. Volkmar, F. R., & Chawarska, K. (2008). Autism in infants: An update. World Psychiatry, 7(1), 19–21.PubMedPubMedCentralGoogle Scholar
  78. Warlaumont, A. S., Oller, D. K., Dale, R., Richards, J. A., Gilkerson, J., & Xu, D. (2010). Vocal interaction dynamics of children with and without autism. In Paper presented at the Proceedings of the 32nd Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society, Austin, TX.Google Scholar
  79. Warren, S. F., Gilkerson, J., Richards, J. A., & Oller, D. K. (2010). What automated vocal analysis reveals about the language learning environment of young children with autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 40, 555–569.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  80. Watson, L. R., Crais, E. R., Baranek, G. T., Dykstra, J. R., & Wilson, K. P. (2013). Communicative gesture use in infants with and without autism: A retrospective home video study. American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 22, 25–39.PubMedPubMedCentralCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  81. Watson, L. R., Patten, E., Baranek, G. T., Boyd, B. A., Freuler, A., & Lorenzi, J. (2011). Differential associations between sensory response patterns and language, social, and communication measures in children with autism or other developmental disabilities. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 54(6), 1562–1576.PubMedPubMedCentralCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  82. Weismer, S. E., Lord, C., & Esler, A. (2010). Early language patterns of toddlers on the autism spectrum compared to toddlers with developmental delay. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 40(10), 1259–1273.PubMedCentralCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  83. Werner, E., Dawson, G., Osterling, J., & Dinno, N. (2000). Brief report: Recognition of autism spectrum disorder before one year of age: A retrospective study based on home videotapes. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 30, 157–162.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  84. Wetherby, A. M., Woods, J., Allen, L., Cleary, J., Dickinson, H., & Lord, C. (2004). Early indicators of ASD spectrum disorders in the second year of life. Journal of ASD and Developmental Disorders, 34, 473–493.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  85. Yale, M. E., Messinger, D. S., Cobo-Lewis, A. B., Oller, D. K., & Eilers, R. E. (1999). An event-based analysis of the coordination of early infant vocalizations and facial actions. Developmental Psychology, 35(2), 505–513.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar
  86. Zwaigenbaum, L., Bryson, S., Rogers, T., Roberts, W., Brian, J., & Szatmari, P. (2005). Behavioral manifestations of autism in the first year of life. International Journal of Developmental Neuroscience, 23(2–3), 143–152.PubMedCrossRefGoogle Scholar

Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014

Authors and Affiliations

  • Elena Patten
    • 1
    Email author
  • Katie Belardi
    • 2
  • Grace T. Baranek
    • 3
  • Linda R. Watson
    • 2
  • Jeffrey D. Labban
    • 4
  • D. Kimbrough Oller
    • 5
    • 6
  1. 1.Department of Communication Sciences and DisordersUniversity of North Carolina, GreensboroGreensboroUSA
  2. 2.Department of Allied Health SciencesUniversity of North Carolina, Chapel HillChapel HillUSA
  3. 3.Department of Allied Health SciencesUniversity of North Carolina, Chapel HillChapel HillUSA
  4. 4.University of North Carolina, GreensboroGreensboroUSA
  5. 5.The University of MemphisMemphisUSA
  6. 6.Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition ResearchKlosterneuburgAustria

Personalised recommendations

Cite article

Buy options