Abstract
Purpose: Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are characterized by early impairments in language and related social communication skills. This investigation explored whether scores on the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory (CDI) at ages 2 and 3 years predict outcome at age 9 years in children with ASD and developmental delay (DD). Method: Sixty-two children referred for possible autism at age 2 years, and 19 children with DD, were followed to age 9 years. Vocabulary, prespeech, and gestures scores on CDIs administered at ages 2 and 3 years were used to predict follow-up IQ, language, adaptive skills, and scores on diagnostic measures. Results: CDI scores at ages 2 and 3 did not predict outcome for the DD group. For the ASD sample, CDI receptive and expressive language and late gestures at ages 2 and 3 years predicted a number of follow-up variables, although scores at age 3 years were generally more predictive than scores at age 2 years. Conclusions: The CDI yielded scores that were predictive of outcome, suggesting that this parent report measure may be a quick and informative assessment of early verbal and nonverbal skills in children with ASD.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 667-681 |
Number of pages | 15 |
Journal | Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research |
Volume | 50 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jun 1 2007 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Autism spectrum disorders
- Communication
- Language
- Outcome
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Language and Linguistics
- Linguistics and Language
- Speech and Hearing