Brief report: parental child-directed speech as a predictor of receptive language in children with autism symptomatology.

Facilitative linguistic input directly connected to children's interest and focus of attention has become a recommended component of interventions for young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This longitudinal correlational study used two assessment time points and examined the association between parental undemanding topic-continuing talk related to the child's attentional focus (i.e.

Behavioral and physiological responses to child-directed speech as predictors of communication outcomes in children with autism spectrum disorders.

Purpose: To determine the extent to which behavioral and physiological responses during child-directed speech (CDS) correlate concurrently and predictively with communication skills in young children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD).

Method: Twenty-two boys with ASD (initial mean age: 35 months) participated in a longitudinal study. At entry, behavioral (i.