Early Social Communication Scales Research Articles

Getting the point: electrophysiological correlates of protodeclarative pointing

We examined the longitudinal relationships between power data in two bands (i.e. 4–6 and 6–9Hz) of electrical activity in the brain at 14 months, as measured by background electroencephalograms (EEG), with protodeclarative and protoimperative pointing at 18 months, as measured by the Early Social Communication Scales (ESCS), [Mundy et al., ESCS: A Preliminary Manual for the Abridged Early Social Communication Scales, 1996, unpublished manual] (n=27). EEGs were recorded from 64 sensors using the Electrical Geodesics (EGI) system’s dense array sensor nets. Multivariate permutation testing (MPT), which controlled for experiment-wise error due to multiple significance tests, revealed significant correlations between log-transformed power in the frontal region at 14 months and protodeclarative, but not protoimperative, pointing at 18 months.

Infantile Spasms: The Development of Nonverbal Communication after Epilepsy Surgery

The postoperative development of nonverbal communication was studied in 29 children, aged 18.2 (SD = 11.54) months, who underwent multilobar resection or hemispherectomy for intractable symptomatic infantile spasms (IS). Using the Early Social Communication Scale, the IS subjects had little, if any, social interaction, joint attention or behavior regulation before surgery. After a mean follow-up of 24 months, most of the children continued to have delayed nonverbal communication skills compared to normal children. Seizure-related, surgical and cognitive factors were unrelated to the postsurgical development of nonverbal communication. The children with right-sided surgery had a statistically significant increase in the use of social interaction but not in other gestural behaviors. Removal of the frontal lobe was not related to the nonverbal communication outcome. The study’s findings suggest that impaired use of nonverbal communication might be a feature of surgically treated children with medically intractable IS.

The predictive validity of nonverbal communicative skills in infants with perinatal hazards

This study investigated the predictive validity to 5 years of age of nonverbal communicative skills administered at 13 months. Subjects ( N = 103) were Norwegian infants with birthweight below 1501 gms. The predictors included infant competence assessed by the Early Social-Communication Scales (ESCS). Cognitive competence at 2 years was measured by the Bayley Mental Development Scale, and at 3 and 5 years by the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale: Fourth Edition (SB:FE). Language competence at 2 and 3 years was assessed by the Reynell Developmental Language Scales, and at 5 years by a verbal comprehension factor derived from the SB:FE. Partial correlations and multiple regression analyses suggest that the infants' initiation of communication was related to cognitive ability and language skills up to 5 years of age. In particular, joint attention was the most consistent predictor of the subsequent competencies. The Bayley cognitive index was overruled as a predictor when used in combination with initiation of joint attention.

A longitudinal study of joint attention and language development in autistic children

This study was designed to examine the degree to which individual differences in gestural joint attention skills predicted language development among autistic children. A group of 15 autistic children (mean CA = 45 months) were matched with one group of mentally retarded (MR) children on mental age and another group of MR children on language age. These groups were administered the Early Social-Communication Scales. The latter provided measures of gestural requesting, joint attention, and social behaviors. The results indicated that, even when controlling for language level, mental age, or IQ, autistic children displayed deficits in gestural joint attention skills on two testing sessions that were 13 months apart. Furthermore, the measure of gestural nonverbal joint attention was a significant predictor of language development in the autistic sample. Other variables, including initial language level and IQ were not significant predictors of language development in this sample.

Assessing interactional competencies: The early social-communication scales

Interactional competencies that develop in the first two years of life provide a foundation for all further social and communicative developments. Their normal acquisition, especially in the handicapped, can not be taken for granted. If delays in social-communicative development can be identified early in life and changes made in how the social environment interacts with the child, intervention may effectively facilitate social development. However, to accomplish this, both a model for describing and an instrument for assessing interactional competencies are needed. A recently developed set of scales, organized according to a cognitive-developmental framework and drawing upon recent research literature, is described in terms of its organization and content. Results that support the cognitive model underlying the set of scales are reported. The paper concludes with a consideration of potential criticisms that may apply to such a theoretically based instrument.

Effect of Music Therapy in Improving Non-­verbal Communication Ability in Autism Children

Objectives: To observe the effect of music therapy in non-­verbal communication ability of autism children.Methods : Study design was pre and post test design. Nineteen subjects -­ 9 was mild-­moderate autism (1 girl and 8 boys ) and 10 was severe autism (2 girls and 8 boys), age was between 3-­15 years-­ were applied music therapy by listening 3 children songs from tape recorder,for 15 minutes daily. Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) was conducted to assess severity of autism (mild, moderate, severe) and Early Social Communication Scale (ESCS) to assess ability of non verbal communication with IJA (Initial Joint Attention) and Responding to Joint Attention (RJA). Descriptive statistic and homogeneity test was performed to evaluate the change on CARS and ESCS score in pre and post music therapy p<0.05Results: There was no change on the severity of autism in pre and post test music therapy with 45,394 ± 11.318 become 46.763 ± 10.915 ( p=1.000). There was a significant difference on Early Social Communication Scale (ESCS) pre and post music therapy in group with mild-­moderate autism from 2.194 ± 0.496 became 3.833 ± 1.000 ( p = 0.007 ).Conclusions: Music therapy is a supporting therapy that can be given for autism child with mild to moderate autism to improve the ability of non-­verbal communicationKeywords: Autism, Music Therapy, Ability of non-­verbal communication