Objective Measurement of Language in the Preschool and Home Environment in Preschoolers with and without Autism

Measurement of Language in the Preschool and Home Environment in Preschoolers with and without Autism

Home and preschool are central contexts for children’s language development. However, the child’s language environment—adult speech around the child, the child’s own speech production, and conversational turns between the child and adults—is rarely compared between these contexts. Furthermore, we know little about potential differences between children with and without autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in the two contexts. We used objective measures of vocalizations to quantify children’s real-time dyadic vocal interactions. Participants included 11 preschoolers in an inclusive classroom, observed both at home and in preschool. Overall, there were no significant differences in child vocalizations, conversational turns, and adult word counts between preschool and home. However, children with ASD exhibited larger effects of context—having higher rates of conversational turns at home than in preschool—than other children. Findings highlight the interaction between children’s developmental characteristics and the external environment as drivers of language environment in early childhood. Supplementary Material File (lee objective measurement of language without author detiails 031925.docx) - Download - 255.69 KB Information & Authors Information Version history Copyright This work is licensed under a Non Exclusive No Reuse License.

Authors Metrics & Citations Metrics Article Usage 235views 91downloads Citations Download citation Jiye Lee, Sophia Meibohm, Kyutae David Lee, et al.

Measurement of Language in the Preschool and Home Environment in Preschoolers with and without Autism. Authorea. 21 March 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.22541/au.174257477.73145111/v1 DOI: https://doi.org/10.22541/au.174257477.73145111/v1 If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download. For more information or tips please see 'Downloading to a citation manager' in the Help menu.