Atypical preference for infant-directed speech as an early marker of autism spectrum disorders? A literature review and directions for further research

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) refer to a complex group of neurodevelopmental disorders causing difficulties with communication and interpersonal relationships, as well as restricted and repetitive behaviours and interests. As early identification, diagnosis, and intervention provide better long-te...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Clinical linguistics & phonetics 2018-01, Vol.32 (3), p.213-231
Main Authors: Filipe, Marisa G., Watson, Linda, Vicente, Selene G., Frota, Sónia
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Auditory Perception
Auditory processing
Autism
Autism Spectrum Disorder - diagnosis
Autism spectrum disorders
Biomarkers
Child-directed speech
Communication
Developmental disabilities
early markers
Humans
Infant
infant-directed speech
Infants
Interpersonal communication
Interpersonal relations
Language acquisition
Language Development
Linguistics
Listening comprehension
Medical diagnosis
Phonetics
review
Speech
Speech sounds
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Summary:Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) refer to a complex group of neurodevelopmental disorders causing difficulties with communication and interpersonal relationships, as well as restricted and repetitive behaviours and interests. As early identification, diagnosis, and intervention provide better long-term outcomes, early markers of ASD have gained increased research attention. This review examines evidence that auditory processing enhanced by social interest, in particular auditory preference of speech directed towards infants and young children (i.e. infant-directed speech - IDS), may be an early marker of risk for ASD. Although this review provides evidence for IDS preference as, indeed, a potential early marker of ASD, the explanation for differences in IDS processing among children with ASD versus other children remains unclear, as are the implications of these impairments for later social-communicative development. Therefore, it is crucial to explore atypicalities in IDS processing early on development and to understand whether preferential listening to specific types of speech sounds in the first years of life may help to predict the impairments in social and language development.
ISSN:0269-9206
1464-5076
DOI:10.1080/02699206.2017.1342694