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. 2013 Sep;43(9):2114-20.
doi: 10.1007/s10803-013-1759-1.

Speech preference is associated with autistic-like behavior in 18-months-olds at risk for Autism Spectrum Disorder

Suzanne Curtin  1 , Athena Vouloumanos
Affiliations

Speech preference is associated with autistic-like behavior in 18-months-olds at risk for Autism Spectrum Disorder

Suzanne Curtin et al. J Autism Dev Disord. 2013 Sep.

Abstract

We examined whether infants' preference for speech at 12 months is associated with autistic-like behaviors at 18 months in infants who are at increased risk for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) because they have an older sibling diagnosed with ASD and in low-risk infants. Only low-risk infants listened significantly longer to speech than to nonspeech at 12 months. In both groups, relative preference for speech correlated positively with general cognitive ability at 12 months. However, in high-risk infants only, preference for speech was associated with autistic-like behavior at 18 months, while in low-risk infants, preference for speech correlated with language abilities. This suggests that in children at risk for ASD an atypical species-specific bias for speech may underlie atypical social development.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Partial regression plot of speech preference index on AOSI total score (centered) adjusting for Mullen ELC score for the SIBS-A group, (r(19) =−.512, p = .018).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Partial regression plot of speech preference index on AOSI total score (centered) adjusting for Mullen ELC score for the SIBS-TD group, r(18) = .084, p = .725.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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