Abstract
We investigate two aspects of the autism triad, communication and social difficulties, in relatives of specific language impairment (SLI) probands (with and without additional autistic symptomatology) as compared to relatives of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and Down’s syndrome (DS) probands. Findings involving 726 first degree relatives of 85 SLI, 99 ASD and 36 DS probands revealed a higher rate of communication difficulties in relatives of both subgroups of SLI probands compared to ASD and DS relatives. Similar levels of social deficits were found in relatives of SLI + ASD and ASD probands. There was a higher than would be expected rate (4.3 %) of ASD, particularly in siblings of SLI + ASD probands. Communication and social deficits appear to breed true in SLI and ASD.
Highlights
The link between specific language impairment (SLI) and autism spectrum disorders (ASD) has been extensively investigated in recent years
There was no difference in rate of social deficits between the relatives of SLI ? ASD and ASD probands, OR = 0.90, CI [0.34, 2.41], p = .84, but there were marginally more social impairments in the relatives of SLI ? ASD probands when compared to the relatives of Down’s syndrome (DS) probands, OR = 4.88, CI [0.94, 25.23], p =
In this study we found strong evidence that communication and social deficits breed true in SLI and ASD
Summary
The link between specific language impairment (SLI) and autism spectrum disorders (ASD) has been extensively investigated in recent years Both groups of individuals are known to have language and communication deficits. Tager-Flusberg and colleagues (Kjelgaard and TagerFlusberg 2001; Tager-Flusberg and Joseph 2003) have presented evidence and argued that there is a distinct subgroup of individuals with ASD who have similar structural language difficulties to those seen in SLI. They suggest a likely shared etiology between the two disorders. For further details see work of Conti-Ramsden and colleagues (Conti-Ramsden and Botting 1999a, b; Conti-Ramsden et al 1997)
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