Joint Engagement and Socially Motivated Language in Young Autistic Children.

PURPOSE: This study investigated the social motivation underlying young autistic children's language and time spent in engagement states [adapted from Bottema-Beutel et al., (2014) and ranging from less social to more social] during interactions with parents. We examined (1) autistic children's time and words per minute (WPM) in each engagement state; (2) the relationship between time in engagement states and the social motivation (SM) of utterances; and (3) the effect of the Pathways intervention on time in engagement states.

METHODS

This secondary analysis used video recordings of 10-min naturalistic interactions between 47 young autistic children (mean age = 36.23 months, SD = 7.89) and their parents. Families were randomized to either Pathways or services-as-usual (SAU). Videos were coded for engagement states, and child utterances were transcribed and coded for degree of SM using a novel coding scheme that captured attention (visual and auditory) and communicative intent. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlations, and hierarchical regression analyses.

RESULTS

On average, children spent more time and produced more WPM during less social engagement states. Regression analyses revealed significant small-to-medium effects of (a) frequency of utterances with the lowest SM score on time in Object Engagement (less social; SAU > Pathways); and (b) frequency of utterances with higher SM scores on time in Coordinated Joint Engagement (more social; Pathways > SAU).

CONCLUSION

Findings emphasize the difference between autistic children's WPM and use of SM utterances, highlighting the need to differentiate expressive language from social language as distinct outcomes for this population.