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Investigating the Receptive-Expressive Vocabulary Profile in Children with Idiopathic ASD and Comorbid ASD and Fragile X Syndrome

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Abstract

Previous work has noted that some children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) display weaknesses in receptive vocabulary relative to expressive vocabulary abilities. The current study extended previous work by examining the receptive-expressive vocabulary profile in boys with idiopathic ASD and boys with concomitant ASD and fragile X syndrome (ASD + FXS). On average, boys with ASD + FXS did not display the same atypical receptive-expressive profile as boys with idiopathic ASD. Notably, there was variation in vocabulary abilities and profiles in both groups. Although we did not identify predictors of receptive-expressive differences, we demonstrated that nonverbal IQ and expressive vocabulary positively predicted concurrent receptive vocabulary knowledge and receptive vocabulary predicted expressive vocabulary. We discuss areas of overlap and divergence in subgroups of ASD.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the families who participated in our study as well as the lab members who contributed to this work, with particular thanks to Susen Schroeder, Alison Pollan, Courtney Ramczyk, Holly Erbstoesser, Michelle Cramer, Erin Schwartz, Sarah Clement, Courtney Venker and Sara Kover. This research was supported by National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders in part by Grants R03 DC011616 (Sterling), F31 DC013485 (Haebig), and National Institutes of Health (P30 HD03352) (Messing), as well as start-up funds from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Author Contributions

EH conceived of the study, participated in its design and coordination, performed the statistical analyses, and drafted the manuscript. AS attained funding for the study, participated in its design and coordination, and helped draft the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Funding

This research was supported in part by grants R03 DC011616, F31 DC013485, and P30 HD03352, as well as start-up funds from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

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Correspondence to Eileen Haebig.

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Conflict of Interest

EH has received F31 DC013485 that supported the work on this project. AS received a research Grant from the R03 DC011616 that supported this study. The authors have no other conflict of interest to report.

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Written informed consent was obtained from all parents and all children provided verbal or written assent.

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Table 4 Studies directly comparing receptive and expressive language in children with ASD and children with FXS

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Haebig, E., Sterling, A. Investigating the Receptive-Expressive Vocabulary Profile in Children with Idiopathic ASD and Comorbid ASD and Fragile X Syndrome. J Autism Dev Disord 47, 260–274 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-016-2921-3

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