Speech, Sign, or Both? Factors Influencing Caregivers' Communication Method Decision Making for Deaf/Hard of Hearing Children.

PURPOSE: Caregivers of deaf/hard of hearing infants are faced with challenging decisions regarding their child's communication method. The purpose of the current research note is to characterize the advice that caregivers receive and value as well as the factors that influence caregivers' decision making. METHOD: The current study enrolled 105 caregiver-child dyads, including children between 12 and 18 months of age with bilateral, congenital hearing loss. All children were exposed to spoken language, and 63.81% of children were also exposed to sign language. Caregivers completed the "Making Decisions About Sign, Speech, and Multilingualism Survey" (Crowe et al., 2014). RESULTS: Caregivers most frequently received advice to use both speech and sign and highly valued advice from speech-language pathologists. When considering the use of speech, the factors that caregivers most frequently rated as very important were "My child's future academic success" (96.19%), "My child's future literary success" (95.24%), and "My child's future access to higher education" (95.19%). When considering the use of sign, the factors that caregivers most frequently rated as very important were "My child's ability to form friendships and future relationships" (82.52%), "My child's future literary success" (81.37%), and "My child's future academic success" (81.37%). CONCLUSIONS: Results of the current study suggest that throughout the decision-making process, caregivers' highest priority is understanding how their decisions will influence their child's future access to opportunities and relationships. Providers may consider discussing these factors early in the decision-making process to support caregivers' ability to make an informed choice regarding their child's communication method.

Characterizing mechanisms of caregiver-mediated naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions for autistic toddlers: A randomized clinical trial.

LAY ABSTRACT: Caregiver-mediated early interventions support caregivers' use of strategies to improve their young autistic child's communication. In the current clinical trial, we sought to isolate the most effective strategies to improve short-term and long-term child communication outcomes. Results demonstrated how children may benefit from caregiver prompts to facilitate long-term language outcomes. In conclusion, the current study improves our understanding of how early intervention facilitates child communication outcomes.

What the Evidence Does (and Does Not) Show for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Child Development Milestones: An Illustrative Example Using Expressive Vocabulary.

PURPOSE: Child development milestones are a critical tool for pediatricians and caregivers to use for developmental surveillance. Following review and selection by a panel of subject matter experts, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published a revised list of milestones across multiple domains of development. Using expressive vocabulary, a key indicator of language development, as an illustrative example, the purpose of this brief review is to evaluate the evidence used to establish the CDC developmental milestones and determine whether the samples used to establish these milestones are representative of U.S. children. METHOD: Authors reviewed the methods and evidence cited to determine the CDC milestones. First, authors identified each language/communication milestone that measured expressive vocabulary as number of words, followed by review of the sources cited in support of each extracted milestone. Then, data related to both milestones and sample characteristics were extracted and compiled as well as compared with data from a validated parent report measure of expressive vocabulary, the MacArthur-Bates Communication Development Inventories. RESULTS: Results indicated that evidence was conflicting, misaligned, or missing for the selected CDC expressive vocabulary milestones. This review also indicated that the samples used to determine the selected CDC expressive vocabulary milestones are not representative of U.S. children. CONCLUSION: The striking paucity of evidence supporting the new CDC milestones for expressive vocabulary illustrates the critical need for future research in this area to establish more accurate milestones for U.S. children, with a focus on culturally inclusive large-scale data.

Screening for Autism in 2-Year-Old Children: The Application of the Systematic Observation of Red Flags to the Screening Tool for Autism in Toddlers and Young Children.

PURPOSE: A multimeasure approach was developed to capitalize on the strengths of two screening measures: the Screening Tool for Autism in Toddlers and Young Children (STAT), an observational measure of social communication, and the Systematic Observation of Red Flags (SORF), a checklist including restricted and repetitive behavior (RRB) items. This approach offers a novel method of identifying autism in toddlers. METHOD: This was a retrospective study of data collected from a multidisciplinary diagnostic program for 24- to 36-month-olds with developmental delays. Raters with autism expertise but naïve to diagnoses applied the SORF to STAT videos. Psychometrics were derived for the SORF on STAT observations and a multiple-measure approach that used a Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator modeling framework to construct a STAT-SORF RRB Hybrid, retaining SORF RRB items based on individual predictive abilities. RESULTS: The SORF alone correctly classified 84% of the sample (84% sensitivity and 86% specificity). The STAT-SORF RRB Hybrid model, which retained four SORF RRB items, correctly classified 90% of a validation sample (95% sensitivity and 75% specificity). CONCLUSION: These findings highlight the potential utility of using multiple autism identification tools and regression-based scoring to establish presumptive eligibility and facilitate early access to autism interventions.

Understanding Caregiver Satisfaction With a Telediagnostic Assessment of Autism Spectrum Disorder.

PURPOSE: In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is critical to understand the feasibility and acceptability of the use of telediagnostic assessments in clinical settings. This study aimed to characterize caregiver satisfaction with a telediagnostic assessment of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). METHOD: Twelve families completed a telediagnostic assessment of ASD through Illinois' Early Intervention program including a caregiver interview, administration of the TELE-ASD-PEDS, and a feedback visit. Following the evaluation, caregivers rated their satisfaction with the telediagnostic assessment. RESULTS: Caregivers reported that the evaluation met their expectations, and they were satisfied with the assessment and feedback visit. However, caregiver satisfaction with the telehealth platform varied, and the majority of caregivers reported a preference for in-person visits. Qualitative analysis of caregiver responses noted the benefits and areas of improvement of telediagnostic assessment. Thematic analysis revealed the strengths of the telediagnostic assessment, including the logistical convenience of the teleassessment, ease of administration, rapport with and expertise of the clinicians, and qualification for intervention services. Although caregivers' perspectives varied, diagnostic accuracy and the amount of information provided about the diagnosis were reported areas of improvement. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, telediagnostic assessments were well received by families. Caregivers' preference for in-person visits highlights the need to incorporate caregiver-reported areas of improvement in the development and administration of telediagnostic assessments.

Auditory Processing Differences in Toddlers With Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Purpose Auditory processing measures have been used in an attempt to understand the relationship between neurological mechanisms and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) symptomatology in school-age children. The focus of the current study was to understand neural auditory processing in 2- to 3-year-olds with ASD. Method Auditory processing measures (click auditory brainstem responses and speech-evoked frequency-following responses) were hypothesized to differ between typically developing children (n = 18) and children with ASD (n = 18). Auditory processing measures were hypothesized to relate to language development in children with ASD. Results The current study found limited differences in auditory processing measures between the two groups. No relationships were found between auditory processing measures and language development measures. Conclusions Future research is necessary to characterize auditory processing in toddlers with ASD. Longitudinal approaches should be considered when studying auditory processing in children with ASD in order to explore its developmental relationship with ASD symptomatology.