Department of Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medical College, White Plains, NY, USA.
Clin Neuropsychol. 2022 Jul;36(5):899-920. doi: 10.1080/13854046.2021.1950211. Epub 2021 Jul 27.
This study compared language profiles of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and typically developing (TD) children at kindergarten-entry and investigated whether kindergarten-entry language scores were predictive of concurrent and future academic achievement, peer interactions, and adaptive skills in children with ASD.
Participants included 97 children (62 children with ASD; 35 TD children) assessed at kindergarten-entry and -exit. Language abilities were assessed using the Children's Communication Checklist-2 (CCC-2). Children with ASD and TD children's language scores were compared at baseline, and the ASD group was followed longitudinally. Regression analyses were performed to compare language scores between ASD and TD groups and to predict concurrent and future functional skills from kindergarten-entry language scores for children with ASD.
Children with ASD demonstrated significantly more impairments across all scales of the CCC-2 at kindergarten-entry compared to TD children. Within the ASD group, kindergarten-entry pragmatic language significantly predicted concurrent math and reading achievement. Both syntactic/semantic and pragmatic domains significantly predicted kindergarten-exit reading performance; pragmatics significantly predicted kindergarten-exit math performance. Pragmatics also predicted concurrent and kindergarten-exit peer play. Syntax/semantics significantly predicted concurrent adaptive communication skills, whereas pragmatics significantly predicted concurrent adaptive daily living and socialization skills, as well as kindergarten-exit socialization skills.
School-entry language abilities can serve as a valuable predictor of functional outcomes across the kindergarten year for cognitively-able children with ASD. Results highlight the need to target early language abilities to maximize academic, social, and adaptive skills.
本研究比较了自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）儿童和典型发育（TD）儿童在幼儿园入学时的语言特征，并探讨了幼儿园入学时的语言成绩是否能预测 ASD 儿童的同期和未来学业成绩、同伴互动和适应技能。
参与者包括 97 名儿童（62 名 ASD 儿童；35 名 TD 儿童），在幼儿园入学时和毕业时进行评估。使用儿童沟通检查表-2（CCC-2）评估语言能力。比较 ASD 组和 TD 组在基线时的语言得分，并对 ASD 组进行纵向随访。回归分析用于比较 ASD 组和 TD 组的语言得分，并预测 ASD 儿童从幼儿园入学语言得分预测同期和未来的功能技能。
与 TD 儿童相比，ASD 儿童在 CCC-2 的所有量表上在幼儿园入学时表现出明显更多的损伤。在 ASD 组中，幼儿园入学时的语用语言显著预测了同期的数学和阅读成绩。句法/语义和语用领域都显著预测了幼儿园毕业时的阅读成绩；语用学显著预测了幼儿园毕业时的数学成绩。语用学也预测了同期和幼儿园毕业时的同伴游戏。语法/语义显著预测了同期的适应性沟通技能，而语用学显著预测了同期的适应性日常生活和社交技能，以及幼儿园毕业时的社交技能。
认知能力正常的 ASD 儿童在幼儿园入学时的语言能力可以作为功能结果的一个有价值的预测指标。结果强调了需要针对早期语言能力，以最大限度地提高学业、社交和适应技能。
