Conversation Skills in Chinese-Speaking Preschoolers with Autism: The Contributing Role of Parents’ Verbal Responsiveness

Background: Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have deficits in conversation skills, yet the growth of conversation abilities is understudied, especially in Chinese-speaking populations, whose autism rates are rising. Additionally, little is known about whether parents’ verbal responsiveness (utterances that follow the child’s focus of attention, actions, and communications) and redirectives (utterances that require the child to change the focus of attention) are related to their ASD children’s elicitation of responses in a conversation. This study had two aims: 1) documenting the growth of conversation skills in Chinese-speaking preschool children with autism; 2) investigating the association between parents’ verbal responsiveness and redirectives and the production of appropriate responses in the children with ASD and the number of conversational turns in the parent-child dyads. Method: Participants were taken from a larger intervention project for (Cantonese) Chinese-speaking individuals with ASD. Thirty-seven participants with ASD (32 males), average age five to six years, and their parents, contributed their language samples. These children interacted with their parents at four time points over nine months. Each time, the parents and children played with a standard set of toys for 20 minutes. The severity of autism, cognitive functioning, and language abilities of the children were assessed before the collection of their language samples. Results: Our findings showed that the number of conversational turns and the proportion of child-initiated conversation (but not the proportion of children’s appropriate responses) grew over the course of nine months. After controlling for time, autism severity, and language skills, parents’ verbal responsiveness positively predicted children’s appropriate responses. Parents’ redirectives negatively predicted the proportion of children’s appropriate responses and the number of conversational turns. Limitations: Our language samples were collected from 37 children aged four to eight years. Even though they were followed at four time points, this is too small a sample and heterogeneity of language abilities is not observed along the lifespan in individuals with autism.Conclusions: Some but not all aspects of conversation skills grew over nine months in Chinese-speaking children with ASD. Parents’ verbal responsiveness was positively related to the children’s elicitation of appropriate responses.

Feasibility of Parent Coaching of Music Interventions for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

Parent-mediated interventions for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have elicited emerging interest among music therapists. A conceptual framework (reported elsewhere) delineated the incorporation of music to an established parent coaching model (Parent-Early Start Denver Model [P-ESDM];). The purpose of this study was to explore the feasibility of adapting the P-ESDM to a music-based parent coaching model. An alternating treatments design with a parent–child dyad was implemented, with music and non-music conditions in each treatment session. Behavioral video analysis of parental verbal and non-verbal responsiveness, child joint attention and verbal behaviors, and parent and therapist adherence to treatment provided quantitative data. A semi-structured follow-up interview with a parent addressed concerns, preferences, and suggestions for improvement. Parental verbal responsiveness seemed lower during the music condition, but non-verbal responsiveness increased notably during the music condition. Parent adherence to treatment was achieved in the sixth session. Child receptive joint attention increased in the music condition only, and initiating joint attention was higher in most sessions during the music condition. Parental comfort with the music did not seem ideal with the brief time allotted to training despite familiarity with the music. Music-based parent coaching to enhance social communication of preschoolers with ASD seems feasible. This study provides initial support to a conceptual framework of parent coaching of music interventions. Further research should investigate other methods to teach the music, alternative session schedules, and more precise measures of parental responsiveness.

Maternal verbal responsiveness and directiveness: consistency, stability, and relations to child early linguistic development

Maternal responsive and directive speech to children at ages 0;10 and 2;0 was investigated by applying a procedure first introduced by Flynn and Masur (2007) to a new language community (Finnish). The issues examined were consistency and stability over time, and also the role of responsiveness and directiveness in child linguistic development at 1;0 and 2;6. The measures of maternal speech from each age were used to predict the results of the subsequent linguistic assessment. Negative correlations between responsive and directive utterances were found at both ages. The frequencies of responsive utterances and supportive directives increased over time. Responsiveness was positively, and intrusive directiveness negatively, related to child early comprehensive skills and the use of symbolic actions and communicative gestures. By contrast, no relations were found between responsiveness and directiveness and children's later linguistic capacities.