Brief Report: Associations between preverbal social communication skills, language and symptom severity in children with autism: an investigation using the early sociocognitive battery

Lauren Taylor, Tony Charman, Patricia Howlin, Vicky Slonims, Jonathan Green, Kathy Leadbitter

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Abstract

We investigated the early sociocognitive battery (ESB), a novel measure of preverbal social communication skills, in children with autism participating in the Paediatric Autism Communication Trial-Generalised (PACT-G). The associations between ESB scores, language and autism symptoms were assessed in 249 children aged 2–11 years. The results show that ESB subscale scores (social responsiveness, joint attention and symbolic comprehension) were significantly associated with concurrent autism symptoms and receptive and expressive language levels. The pattern of association between the ESB subscale scores differed between the ADOS-2 symptom domains and expressive and receptive language. These findings indicate the potential utility of the ESB as a measure of preverbal social communication in children with autism.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1434-1442
Number of pages9
JournalJournal of Autism and Developmental Disorders
Volume50
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 10 Jan 2020

Keywords

  • Autism
  • Language
  • Preverbal social communication
  • Symptom severity

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