ERIC Number: EJ1025990
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2013-Nov
Pages: 13
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1363-755X
EISSN: N/A
Fine Motor Skill Predicts Expressive Language in Infant Siblings of Children with Autism
LeBarton, Eve Sauer; Iverson, Jana M.
Developmental Science, v16 n6 p815-827 Nov 2013
We investigated whether fine motor and expressive language skills are related in the later-born siblings of children with autism (heightened-risk, HR infants) who are at increased risk for language delays. We observed 34 HR infants longitudinally from 12 to 36 months. We used parent report and standardized observation measures to assess fine motor skill from 12 to 24 months in HR infants (Study 1) and its relation to later expressive vocabulary at 36 months in HR infants (Study 2). In Study 1, we also included 25 infants without a family history of autism to serve as a normative comparison group for a parent-report fine motor measure. We found that HR infants exhibited fine motor delays between 12 and 24 months and expressive vocabulary delays at 36 months. Further, fine motor skill significantly predicted expressive language at 36 months. Fine motor and expressive language skills are related early in development in HR infants, who, as a group, exhibit risk for delays in both. Our findings highlight the importance of considering fine motor skill in children at risk for language impairments and may have implications for early identification of expressive language difficulties.
Descriptors: Psychomotor Skills, Expressive Language, Autism, Siblings, At Risk Persons, Language Impairments, Correlation, Longitudinal Studies, Observation, Parent Attitudes, Age Differences, Child Development, Comparative Analysis, Infants, Toddlers
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
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