Early social communication development in infants with autism spectrum disorder
Jessica Bradshaw, Courtney McCracken, Moira L. Pileggi, Natalie Brane, Abigail Delehanty, Taylor N. Day, Alexis Federico, Cheryl Klaiman, Celine A. Saulnier, Ami Klin, Amy M. Wetherby
Abstract
Social-communication differences are a robust and defining feature of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) but identifying early points of divergence in infancy has been a challenge. The current study examines social communication in 9- to 12-month-old infants who develop ASD (N = 30; 23% female; 70% white) compared to typically developing (TD) infants (N = 94, 38% female; 88% white). Results demonstrate that infants later diagnosed with ASD were already exhibiting fewer social-communication skills using eye gaze, facial expression, gestures, and sounds at 9 months (effect size: 0.42-0.89). Moreover, three unique patterns of change across distinct social-communication skills were observed within the ASD group. This study documents that observable social-communication differences for infants with ASD are unfolding by 9 months, pointing to a critical window for targeted intervention.