Abstract
This study investigated receptive and expressive language outcomes in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) with and without a history of language/communication regression, employing three progressively less stringent definitions of regression. Data were derived from a large, longitudinal sample of children with ASD in which regression was assessed at approximately 30 months. Results indicated poorer receptive language and larger discrepancies between receptive and expressive language in the regression group than the group without regression at 44 months but not 66 months. Number of words used before loss predicted receptive language at 44 months. Overall, results suggest that a regression profile in ASD is associated with modest and transient impacts on language outcomes that are no longer discernable at school entry.
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Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank the Language Processes Lab members, participants, and their families for their contributions to this study. This research was supported by National Institutes of Health (NIH) research and training grants awarded to the second author (NIH NIDCD R01 DC007223, NIH NIDCD T32 DC005359), and a core grant to the Waisman Center (NIH NICHD P30 HD03352).
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Kathryn E. Prescott performed the statistical analyses and drafted the manuscript. Susan Ellis Weismer supervised initial data collection, guided the analytical approach, and helped draft the manuscript. Both authors contributed to study conceptualization and design, interpretation of study results, and approval of the final manuscript.
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Kathryn E. Prescott and Susan Ellis Weismer have no conflicts of interest to declare.
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The procedures described in this study involving human participants were approved by the Education and Behavioral/Social Sciences Institutional Review Board at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and performed in accordance with the ethical standards of the 1964 Helsinki Declaration.
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Prescott, K.E., Ellis Weismer, S. Children with ASD and Communication Regression: Examining Pre-Loss Skills and Later Language Outcomes Through the Preschool Years. J Autism Dev Disord 52, 1956–1970 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-021-05098-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-021-05098-2