Communication deficits in babies and infants with autism and pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS).

OBJECTIVE To investigate if, and in what ways, communication impairments are present in toddlers (17-37 months) diagnosed with autism and Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS). METHODS Study 1-The scores of 20 toddlers with autism or PDD-NOS (i.e. ASD group) were compared to those of 20 typically-developing infants on the Communication sub-scale of the Baby and Infant Screen for Children with aUtIsm Traits (BISCUIT)-Part 1. Study 2-These same scores were compared between 660 toddlers who fell into three groups: autism, PDD-NOS and non-ASD-related developmentally delayed. RESULTS Infants with an ASD exhibited greater communication impairments than did typically-developing infants overall and on all items. Additionally, significant differences were found in overall communication impairments and the majority of individual items between all three groups in Study 2. CONCLUSIONS Significant communication impairments are present in toddlers diagnosed with autism and PDD-NOS before 37 months.