Social Language Opportunities for Preschoolers with Autism: Insights from Audio Recordings in Urban Classrooms

Many children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder who receive early intervention reap developmental benefits, but little is known about characteristics of early intervention placements in the community that optimize individual growth. The extent to which children hear and use language, in particular, may contribute significantly to developmental outcomes. We analyzed natural language production and exposure to language in preschoolers on the autism spectrum across three classroom compositions: autism only, mixed disability, and inclusion. Autistic children in inclusion classrooms produced more speech, received significantly more verbal input from their peers, and were exposed to a similar amount of teacher talk compared to children in autism only or mixed disability classrooms. These findings shed preliminary light on the linguistic environment of early intervention placements in the community, along with the characteristics of children placed in early intervention settings that may influence their language exposure from peers and teachers. Natural language sampling is a promising method for capturing language exposure in early intervention settings and providing context for understanding developmental outcomes resulting from early intervention.