The development of young siblings of children with autism from 4 to 54 months

Ifat Gamliel, Nurit Yirmiya*, Marian Sigman

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

71 Scopus citations

Abstract

Cognitive and language skills of 39 siblings of children with autism (SIBS-A) and 39 siblings of typically developing children (SIBS-TD) at ages 4, 14, 24, 36, and 54 months were compared. Twelve of the 39 SIBS-A revealed a delay in cognition and/or language (including one child diagnosed with autism) compared to only two SIBS-TD. Developmental trajectories revealed that the cognitive differences disappeared by age 54 months, but some differences in language ability remained. Thus, most SIBS-A were well-functioning, but some revealed cognitive and/or language difficulties during the preschool years. Even these siblings by and large caught up by the age of 54 months, with receptive and expressive language abilities remaining an area of difficulty for some earlier identified siblings.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)171-183
Number of pages13
JournalJournal of Autism and Developmental Disorders
Volume37
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 2007

Keywords

  • Autism
  • Cognitive skills
  • Early phenotype
  • Language skills
  • Siblings

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