Low Rates of Pointing in 18-Month-Olds at Risk for Autism Spectrum Disorder and Extremely Preterm Infants: A Common Index of Language Delay?

ABSTRACT: Infants with an older sibling with an Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnosis (Sibs ASD) are at high risk for language delay (LD) as well as infants born preterm, especially those with an extremely low gestational age (ELGA, GA ≤ 28 weeks). Gestures play a crucial role in language development and delays in gesture production may have negative cascading effects on it. The present exploratory study examined gesture production in 18-month-old infants with different underlying risks for LD. Seventy monolingual United States infants (41 Sibs ASD with no eventual ASD diagnosis and 29 infants with a typically developing older sibling -Sibs TD) and 40 monolingual Italian infants (20 ELGA without major cerebral damages, congenital malformations or sensory impairments and 20 full-term - FT infants, GA ≥

SUBMITTER: Sansavini A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6794419 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature