Language Acquisition in Babies

     Research by Patricia Kuhl, co-director of the Institute for Brain and Learning Sciences at the University of Washington, emphasizes that the most productive period for language acquisition ends around age seven, after which ease of learning sharply declines.  Kuhl’s research has played a key role in demonstrating the importance of early exposure to language.  Implications of her work are especially meaningful for children with developmental delays and those in the field of Early Intervention.

     Are six-month old babies sophisticated enough to understand their world? Check out this short video and decide for yourself:  Patricia Kuhl: The Linguistic Genius of Babies.

     Here are some suggestions to give your child's language skills a boost:

                            

Social Emotional Development in Infants and Toddlers

     Social emotional development simply refers to a child's capacity to experience emotions and respond appropriately. By learning proper responses to emotional matters, children are more likely to lead healthy, more productive lives as adults. Some aspects of social emotional development include:

•  Self-confidence and self-esteem
• Attitudes
• Self-control and behavior
• Trust
• Empathy and compassion
• Cooperation and cooperative play.

     Examples of typical social emotional development include laughing and smiling at a mirror reflection (7 months); wanting to be near adults and needing reassurance that a caregiver is nearby (14 months); imitating grown-up activities (16 months); claiming ownership of personal things (mine!) (24 months), and; pretending to be a Mommy or Daddy (24 months).

      The reason for a child to be experiencing a delay in social emotional development is not always clear. Children with Autism especially have difficulty in this area of development. These children often avoid social interaction, prefer solitary play, and have difficulty interpreting body language and reading facial expressions. Children with Autism may say "ow" when they are being tickled or laugh when being scolded. For these children, proper social emotional responses do not develop as naturally as with typically developing children.

      Environmental risk factors have also been known to impact a child's social emotional development. Examples of these types of risk factors include: 

• Exposure to infection, alcohol or drugs prior to birth
• Poor nutrition
• Lead poisoning or exposure to other toxins
• Premature birth
• Poor prenatal care
• Life experiences.

      It is important to remember that a child's social emotional skills do not development in isolation. Delays in other areas of development, including communication, motor, and cognition, may impact social emotional development as well.

      Regardless of the reason for a social emotional delay, the earlier the intervention, the greater the likelihood that the delay can be successfully addressed.

Early Intervention: How Much is Enough?

There is an ongoing debate in the field of Early Intervention as to whether one hour a week of direct service is enough for children with or at risk for developmental delays. Although many factors must be considered when determining the frequency of services for a child, the single most important factor that will increase the likelihood of a child’s success is the extent to which family members follow-through with the strategies provided by the Early Intervention practitioners.  It is a common misconception that Early Intervention is a home-based therapy service, and while I recognize that in practice it can sometimes be just that, it is not designed as such. Early Intervention is designed to be a family training program.  It is designed to offer strategies, materials and resources that  family members can use to help them achieve the goals they set for their child.  It is much more than home-based therapy and done right can make a tremendous difference in the lives of each family member.   The following article, reprinted from The OARACLE: The Organization for Autism Research’s Monthly E-Newsletter, discusses how parent training programs can lead to lasting changes in toddlers with Autism.

Can One Hour per Week of Therapy Lead to Lasting Changes in Young Children with Autism?

While all professionals recommend early intervention for children diagnosed with autism, there is often a delay between diagnosis and receiving interventions. This can cause added stress for parents while processing the diagnosis. Many parents feel helpless knowing they need to obtain services but not yet being able to. In this study, researchers investigated training parents one hour a week for 10 sessions to deliver services to their children, ages 0-2. Past studies have focused on interventions for children over the age of two. As diagnosis age decreases, more research-based interventions are needed for young infants. Other research on parent-directed interventions have shown an increase in verbal skills and appropriate behavior. This study focused on parent-directed interventions for younger infants. Parents were trained using a manual based on the Denver Model and Pivotal Response Training. This intervention was designed using research-based techniques to increase language skills and relationship development. Eight families were recruited to participate in this study. Children in the study were under 36 months old and diagnosed with autism. Parents participated for 12 weeks: two weeks of baseline and 10 weeks of training to implement the strategies. Parents were encouraged to use the strategies at home during usual daily activities. During the first two sessions, researchers gathered baseline data on targeted behaviors and asked parents to complete checklists and assessments. Targeted behaviors were “number of spontaneous functional verbal utterances” and “number of imitative behaviors.” During the following weeks, researchers videotaped play between the child and parent and child and therapist. These videos were used in data collection on target behaviors in 10-minute intervals. Parents were also assessed in competency of using the interventions. Researchers found that most parents implemented the strategies at or above criterion by the sixth session. During baseline, all child participants showed little to no imitative behaviors or spontaneous verbal utterances while playing with parents or therapist. After intervention, all children increased imitative behaviors and spontaneous verbal utterances. Children maintained high levels of targeted behaviors during follow up three months later. Researchers determined this increase in targeted behaviors was due to parent training rather than child interactions with therapists as behaviors increased as parents became more skilled at the strategies, therapists had high skill levels in implementing the strategies from the beginning of the intervention.

This study suggests that short-term parent training programs, as little as one hour a week for 10 weeks, does lead to changes in young children with autism. This is an important finding suggesting that parents can be trained in strategies immediately following diagnosis and begin.


Vismara, L.A., Colombi, C., and Rogers, S.J. (2009). “Can one hour per week of therapy lead to lasting changes in young children with autism?” Autism, 13, 93-115

Toddlers, Toys and Tips

Do you need some tips on encouraging your child play to play with a particular toy? Would you like to teach your child a new skill but do not know where to start? Are you interested in novel uses for common toys? I would be happy to offer suggestions.  Just post the name of the toy and what you would like to accomplish and I will post some recommendations.

Resources for Spanish Speaking Families

The following resources on Autism Spectrum Disorder and developmental milestones are available in Spanish.

 

Books

1. Asperger’s: Que significa para mi?: Un manual dedicado a ayudadar a niños y jovenes con aspergers o autismo de alto funcionamiento (Asperger’s What Does It Mean to Me?: A Workbook Explaining Self Awareness and Life Lessons to the Child or Youth with High Functioning Autism or Asperger’s) by C. Faherty, K. Sicoli, R. Wayne Gilpin, and K. L. Simmons.
2. Comprender el autismo (Engaging Autism) by Stanley Greenspan and Serena Wieder.
3. El niño con necesidades especiales (The Special Needs Child) by Stanley Greenspan and Serena Wieder.
4. Esto es el sindrome de Asperger (This is Asperger Syndrome) by Elisa Gagnon and Brenda Smith Myles.
5. El Sindrome de Asperger: Una Guia para la Familia (Asperger’s Syndrome: A Guide for Parents and Professionals) by Tony Attwood.
6. Los trastornos del espectro de autismo de la A a la Z (Autism Spectrum Disorder from A to Z) by Barbara Doyle and Emily I. Land..
7. Hermano Tiene Autismo: Hablemos De Esto! (My Brother is Autistic: Let's Talk About It!) by Jennifer Moore-Mallinos.

Information on Developmental Milestones

 

‘For Parents By Parents’ Autism Page