Expressive language variation, growth and predictors in Mandarin-exposed young children with autism spectrum disorder

Utilizing the Putonghua Communicative Development Inventory-Toddler Form, this longitudinal study assessed expressive language development (including lexicon, grammar, and decontextualized language) twice over a year’s span in two subgroups (high verbal, low verbal) of 77 2–6-year-old Mandarin-exposed children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Both subgroups showed the steeper increase of structural language (lexicon and grammar) vs. the flatter growth of decontextualized language. Moreover, children’s initial language skills (but not autism severity or language environment) predicted language outcomes one year later in both groups. The use of decontextualized language also predicted structural language development in the low verbal group. These findings confirmed the uneven expressive language growth across multiple language domains in subgroups of children with ASD and underscored the contribution of early language skills to their expressive language development. Moreover, the slow growth and significant predictivity of decontextualized language warrant targeted intervention in promoting children with ASD’s talk beyond the ‘here-and-now’ situation in communication.