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Effects of Different Attentional Cues on Responding to Joint Attention in Younger Siblings of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

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Abstract

We compared responding to joint attention (RJA) in younger siblings of children with ASD (SIBS-ASD; n = 46) and younger siblings of children developing typically (SIBS-TD; n = 35). Children were tested between 12 and 23 months of age in a situation in which an experimenter directed the child’s attention to one of 8 targets. Each child responded to 10 different combinations of verbal and nonverbal cues containing varying levels of attention-specifying information. SIBS-ASD had significantly lower overall RJA scores than SIBS-TD. Moderately redundant cues were most difficult for SIBS-ASD relative to SIBS-TD; adding a point to moderately redundant cues improved RJA for SIBS-ASD, bringing them to a level of RJA commensurate with SIBS-TD.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to the children and families who participated. Numerous individuals deserve acknowledgement for contributions to the planning and implementation of this project: Anne Osberger and Meredith (Townes) Martin for initial assistance with development of materials and procedures; Jon Tapp and Tony Maupin for technical support; Lauren Turner, Stacie Pozdol, Teresa Ulman, Caitlin McMahon, and Lynnette Henderson for assessments; Justin Lane, Kelly Wendel, Joanna Mussey, and Holly Breece for contributions to assessment, scheduling, and data management; Elizabeth Malesa for assistance with data coordination; and Eric Walle and Ayesha Nasmyth for coding. This research was supported by NICHD grant number R01 HD043292. Partial support was also provided by NICHD Grant numbers P30 HD15052 and T32 HD07226 and the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center Marino Autism Research Institute (MARI).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA

    Alison G. Presmanes, Tedra A. Walden, Wendy L. Stone & Paul J. Yoder

  2. Treatment and Research Institute for Autism Spectrum Disorders (TRIAD), Vanderbilt Kennedy Center, Peabody #74, 230 Appleton Place, Nashville, TN, 37203, USA

    Wendy L. Stone

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  1. Alison G. Presmanes
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  2. Tedra A. Walden
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  3. Wendy L. Stone
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  4. Paul J. Yoder
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Correspondence to Wendy L. Stone.

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Presmanes, A.G., Walden, T.A., Stone, W.L. et al. Effects of Different Attentional Cues on Responding to Joint Attention in Younger Siblings of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. J Autism Dev Disord 37, 133–144 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-006-0338-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-006-0338-0

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