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A diagnosis of an autism spectrum condition (autism) provides limited information regarding an individual’s level of functioning, information key in determining support and funding needs.
Natural Language Sampling (NLS) offers clear potential for communication and language assessment, where other data might be difficult to interpret. We leveraged existing primary data for 18-month-olds showing early signs of autism, to examine the reliability and concurrent construct validity of NLS-derived measures coded from video-of child language, parent linguistic input, and dyadic balance of communicative interaction-against standardised assessment scores. Using Systematic Analysis of Language Transcripts (SALT) software and coding conventions, masked coders achieved good-to-excellent inter-rater agreement across all measures.
With increasing demands for health, disability and education services, innovative approaches can help distribute limited resources according to need. Despite an increased focus on support needs within the clinical pathway and policy landscape, the body of research knowledge on this topic is at a relatively early stage. However, there appears to be a sense of unmet support needs and dissatisfaction with the provision of required support following an autism diagnosis amongst caregivers of young people on the spectrum.
Prenatal depressive symptoms are linked to negative child behavioral and cognitive outcomes and predict later psychopathology in adolescent children. Prior work links prenatal depressive symptoms to child brain structure in regions like the amygdala; however, the relationship between symptoms and the development of brain structure over time remains unclear.
Fetal androgens influence fetal growth as well as postnatal neurocognitive ability
This paper discusses changes in diagnostic criteria, decreasing age at diagnosis, improved case ascertainment, diagnostic substitution, and social influences.
Causal theories propose that functional asymmetry is an obligatory pattern of organisation, while statistical theories maintain this is a reflection...
Evidence that some children also develop autistic symptomatology over time has raised suggestions that developmental language disorder...
Differentiating between childhood communication disorders: Implications for language and psychosocial outcomes
A link between developmental language disorders and atypical cerebral lateralization has been postulated since the 1920s, but evidence has been indirect and...