Pre- and Paralinguistic Vocal Production in ASD: Birth Through School Age

Overview

Journal Curr Psychiatry Rep

Publisher Current Science

Specialty Psychiatry

Date 2019 Nov 22

PMID 31749074

Citations 15

Authors

Lisa D Yankowitz

Robert T Schultz

Julia Parish-Morris

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Purpose Of Review: We review what is known about how pre-linguistic vocal differences in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) unfold across development and consider whether vocalization features can serve as useful diagnostic indicators.

Recent Findings: Differences in the frequency and acoustic quality of several vocalization types (e.g., babbles and cries) during the first year of life are associated with later ASD diagnosis. Paralinguistic features (e.g., prosody) measured during early and middle childhood can accurately classify current ASD diagnosis using cross-validated machine learning approaches. Pre-linguistic vocalization differences in infants are promising behavioral markers of later ASD diagnosis. In older children, paralinguistic features hold promise as diagnostic indicators as well as clinical targets. Future research efforts should focus on (1) bridging the gap between basic research and practical implementations of early vocalization-based risk assessment tools, and (2) demonstrating the clinical impact of targeting atypical vocalization features during social skill interventions for older children.

Citing Articles

Reliably quantifying the severity of social symptoms in children with autism using ASDSpeech.

Eni M, Zigel Y, Ilan M, Michaelovski A, Golan H, Meiri G Transl Psychiatry. 2025; 15(1):14.

PMID: 39827120 PMC: 11743129. DOI: 10.1038/s41398-025-03233-6.

Early trajectories and moderators of autistic language profiles: A longitudinal study in preschoolers.

Latreche K, Godel M, Franchini M, Journal F, Kojovic N, Schaer M Autism. 2024; 28(12):3043-3062.

PMID: 38770974 PMC: 11575100. DOI: 10.1177/13623613241253015.

Canonical babbling trajectories across the first year of life in autism and typical development.

Long H, Ramsay G, Bene E, Su P, Yoo H, Klaiman C Autism. 2024; 28(12):3078-3091.

PMID: 38757642 PMC: 11569269. DOI: 10.1177/13623613241253908.

Vocal Characteristics of Infants at Risk for Speech Motor Involvement: A Scoping Review.

Long H, Christensen L, Hayes S, Hustad K J Speech Lang Hear Res. 2023; 66(11):4432-4460.

PMID: 37850852 PMC: 10715844. DOI: 10.1044/2023_JSLHR-23-00336.

Prosodic signatures of ASD severity and developmental delay in preschoolers.

Godel M, Robain F, Journal F, Kojovic N, Latreche K, Dehaene-Lambertz G NPJ Digit Med. 2023; 6(1):99.

PMID: 37248317 PMC: 10227036. DOI: 10.1038/s41746-023-00845-4.

References

Jones R, Skwerer D, Pawar R, Hamo A, Carberry C, Ajodan E . How effective is LENA in detecting speech vocalizations and language produced by children and adolescents with ASD in different contexts?. Autism Res. 2019; 12(4):628-635. PMC: 6988897. DOI: 10.1002/aur.2071. View

Brisson J, Martel K, Serres J, Sirois S, Adrien J . Acoustic analysis of oral productions of infants later diagnosed with autism and their mother. Infant Ment Health J. 2015; 35(3):285-95. DOI: 10.1002/imhj.21442. View

Bonneh Y, Levanon Y, Dean-Pardo O, Lossos L, Adini Y . Abnormal speech spectrum and increased pitch variability in young autistic children. Front Hum Neurosci. 2011; 4:237. PMC: 3024839. DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2010.00237. View

Swanson M, Shen M, Wolff J, Boyd B, Clements M, Rehg J . Naturalistic Language Recordings Reveal "Hypervocal" Infants at High Familial Risk for Autism. Child Dev. 2017; 89(2):e60-e73. PMC: 5592123. DOI: 10.1111/cdev.12777. View

Winder B, Wozniak R, Parlade M, Iverson J . Spontaneous initiation of communication in infants at low and heightened risk for autism spectrum disorders. Dev Psychol. 2012; 49(10):1931-42. PMC: 3732808. DOI: 10.1037/a0031061. View

Bornstein M, Costlow K, Truzzi A, Esposito G . Categorizing the cries of infants with ASD versus typically developing infants: A study of adult accuracy and reaction time. Res Autism Spectr Disord. 2017; 31:66-72. PMC: 5271596. DOI: 10.1016/j.rasd.2016.08.001. View

Garrido D, Petrova D, Watson L, Garcia-Retamero R, Carballo G . Language and motor skills in siblings of children with autism spectrum disorder: A meta-analytic review. Autism Res. 2017; 10(11):1737-1750. DOI: 10.1002/aur.1829. View

Lord C, Risi S, Lambrecht L, Cook Jr E, Leventhal B, DiLavore P . The autism diagnostic observation schedule-generic: a standard measure of social and communication deficits associated with the spectrum of autism. J Autism Dev Disord. 2000; 30(3):205-23. View

Sheinkopf S, Mundy P, Oller D, Steffens M . Vocal atypicalities of preverbal autistic children. J Autism Dev Disord. 2000; 30(4):345-54. DOI: 10.1023/a:1005531501155. View

10.

Wetherby A, Woods J, Allen L, Cleary J, Dickinson H, Lord C . Early indicators of autism spectrum disorders in the second year of life. J Autism Dev Disord. 2005; 34(5):473-93. DOI: 10.1007/s10803-004-2544-y. View

11.

Landa R, Holman K, Garrett-Mayer E . Social and communication development in toddlers with early and later diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2007; 64(7):853-64. DOI: 10.1001/archpsyc.64.7.853. View

12.

Ozonoff S, Young G, Belding A, Hill M, Hill A, Hutman T . The broader autism phenotype in infancy: when does it emerge?. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2014; 53(4):398-407.e2. PMC: 3989934. DOI: 10.1016/j.jaac.2013.12.020. View

13.

Esposito G, Hiroi N, Scattoni M . Cry, baby, cry: Expression of Distress as a Biomarker and Modulator in Autism Spectrum Disorder. Int J Neuropsychopharmacol. 2017; . PMC: 5458334. DOI: 10.1093/ijnp/pyx014. View

14.

Lee K, Shin Y, Yoo H, Lee G, Ryu J, Son O . Vocalization of Emotional and Social Expressions in Korean-Speaking Toddlers with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Those with Developmental Delay. Yonsei Med J. 2018; 59(3):425-430. PMC: 5889995. DOI: 10.3349/ymj.2018.59.3.425. View

15.

. Prevalence of autism spectrum disorder among children aged 8 years - autism and developmental disabilities monitoring network, 11 sites, United States, 2010. MMWR Surveill Summ. 2014; 63(2):1-21. View

16.

Ozturk Y, Bizzego A, Esposito G, Furlanello C, Venuti P . Physiological and self-report responses of parents of children with autism spectrum disorder to children crying. Res Dev Disabil. 2017; 73:31-39. DOI: 10.1016/j.ridd.2017.12.004. View

17.

Plumb A, Wetherby A . Vocalization development in toddlers with autism spectrum disorder. J Speech Lang Hear Res. 2013; 56(2):721-34. DOI: 10.1044/1092-4388(2012/11-0104). View

18.

Schoen E, Paul R, Chawarska K . Phonology and vocal behavior in toddlers with autism spectrum disorders. Autism Res. 2011; 4(3):177-88. PMC: 3110574. DOI: 10.1002/aur.183. View

19.

English M, Tenenbaum E, Levine T, Lester B, Sheinkopf S . Perception of Cry Characteristics in 1-Month-Old Infants Later Diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. J Autism Dev Disord. 2018; 49(3):834-844. PMC: 10266897. DOI: 10.1007/s10803-018-3788-2. View

20.

Esposito G, Nakazawa J, Venuti P, Bornstein M . Componential deconstruction of infant distress vocalizations via tree-based models: a study of cry in autism spectrum disorder and typical development. Res Dev Disabil. 2013; 34(9):2717-24. PMC: 3741341. DOI: 10.1016/j.ridd.2013.05.036. View