The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
Autism. 2022 Aug;26(6):1477-1490. doi: 10.1177/13623613211054597. Epub 2021 Oct 29.
Language impairment is one of the early signs of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) that alerts parents to take their children for early diagnosis and intervention. Little is known about how children's autism traits, IQ, initial language abilities and parental inputs influence their language abilities. In addition, only a few studies have compared the relative influence of these factors. The present study addressed these issues by examining the structural language in parent-child spontaneous interactions. Forty-two Cantonese (Chinese)-speaking autistic children aged four to eight were recruited. Their expressive language skills grew rapidly more than 9 months, but their development trajectories varied. Initial expressive language ability is the only significant predictor of child language outcomes and language growth trajectories. In contrast, nonverbal cognition, autism traits, and parents' input do not affect language outcomes in children with ASD. Therefore, early language intervention is crucial for autistic children at all severity and IQ levels.
语言障碍是自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）的早期迹象之一，这会提醒家长带孩子进行早期诊断和干预。目前，人们对于儿童的自闭症特征、智商、初始语言能力和家长投入如何影响他们的语言能力知之甚少。此外，很少有研究比较这些因素的相对影响。本研究通过考察亲子自然互动中的结构语言来解决这些问题。研究招募了 42 名 4 至 8 岁的粤语（中文）自闭症儿童。他们的表达性语言技能在 9 个月内迅速增长，但发展轨迹各不相同。初始表达性语言能力是儿童语言结果和语言增长轨迹的唯一显著预测因素。相比之下，非言语认知、自闭症特征和父母的投入并不影响自闭症儿童的语言结果。因此，早期语言干预对于所有严重程度和智商水平的自闭症儿童都至关重要。
