Pre-linguistic Vocal Trajectories at 6–18 Months of Age As Early Markers of Autism

Natasha Chericoni,Marluce Leitgel Gille,Valeria Costanzo,Erika Parlato,Fabio Apicella,Andréa Diniz-Gonçalves,Daniele De Brito Wanderley,Filippo Muratori,David Cohen,Sara Calderoni

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01595

Abstract

This study explores pre-linguistic vocal trajectories in infants with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) during caregiver-infant interaction. Home videos were obtained from 10 infants with ASD and 10 typically developing infants (TD), covering three time periods: 0–6 months (T1, 47 video sequences), 6–12 months (T2, 47 video sequences), and 12–18 months (T3, 48 video sequences). In total 142 video sequences were analyzed. Vocalizations, long reduplicated babbling, 2-syllable babbling, and first words were investigated longitudinally. Face-gazing was also analyzed, to evaluate the social quality of vocal behaviors. Results show a lower rate of vocalizations in the ASD group at T2, and a lower rate of first words at T3, compared to the TD group. However, the prevalence of non-social babbling, appeared higher in the ASD group. The implications of these findings for screening programs are discussed.

Highlights

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is defined as a neurodevelopmental disorder that interferes with social interaction and communication, and impacts a person’s interests which become repetitive and restricted (American Psychiatric Association, 2013)
In a previous study (Apicella et al, 2013) using home videos, we found that lower rates in the amount of vocalizations significantly distinguished ASD from typically developing infants (TD) during the 6–12 months age period
This result is supported by other studies, which analyzed the rate of vocalizations in the first 6 months of life and found similar rates in ASD and TD infants (Ozonoff et al, 2010; Rozga et al, 2011; Apicella et al, 2013)

Summary

Introduction

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is defined as a neurodevelopmental disorder that interferes with social interaction and communication, and impacts a person’s interests which become repetitive and restricted (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Detection of ASD is a prerequisite for early intervention which in turn may mitigate the severity of core and associated features of autism (Warren et al, 2011), and improve the long-term outcome of treated patients (Estes et al, 2015). The identification of developmental trajectories specific to ASD is pivotal for the creation of early screening tools, which could improve early detection and timely treatment. Gabrielsen et al (2015) reported that young children who had autism showed more typical behavior (89% of the time) than atypical behavior: They could gaze at people’s faces, turn toward voices, respond to their name when called, and express interest in communication. Searching for early signs, much attention has been devoted to the lack of gaze-following

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