New Research Suggests Parents Of Infants With ASD Interact Differently Even Before A Formal Autism Diagnosis, Indicating They Intuitively Respond To Their Children’s Needs
In a new study, it was found that parents of infants with Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) interact with them differently even before a formal autism diagnosis, indicating they instinctively sense their children’s needs.
The research team – comprised of scientists from Emory University, the Marcus Autism Center, and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta – discovered that adults’ social engagement style with infants occurs before the first recognizable signs of autism.
The researchers believe this might be because babies who are later diagnosed with autism seek out different interaction types, prompting parents to adapt accordingly.
According to Sarah Shultz, one of the study’s authors, past research indicates that caregivers respond to their infants’ social cues in ways that are both timely and appropriately matched to the infants’ abilities and needs.
“Our study was based on this premise – that since caregivers are experts at matching their behaviors to their infants’ developing abilities, differences in caregiver behavior may be indicative of differences in infant development,” Shultz said.
Approximately one in 36 children in the U.S. are affected by ASD – which can cause difficulties in social interaction and communication – by age 8, according to a 2020 report from the CDC.
In this latest study, the research team analyzed data from 163 parent-baby pairs. By examining videos of parent-infant interactions recorded during the first six months of the babies’ lives, they aimed to identify differences between infants who later received an autism diagnosis and those who didn’t.
This analysis revealed that parents of children with ASD used greetings less frequently and began using greetings when their babies were older, as opposed to parents who had neurotypical babies. But, the researchers underscored how this difference does not indicate that the parents did anything wrong.
Instead, it may signify that the parents were simply responding naturally to the different ways their children were interacting with them.
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“One very important point we hope to convey is that we do not interpret these differences in caregiver behavior as contributing in any way to the emergence of autism. To the contrary, we interpret these findings as reflecting caregivers’ remarkable ability to fine-tune their behavior to match the needs and abilities of their infant,” Shultz explained.
One example of this may be a parent responding to an infant’s babbling or playfully mimicking them to show their child that they can communicate.
Socioeconomic status was found to be an influencing factor in how parents communicated with their infants in this study as well. The study showed a relationship between lower household incomes and fewer parent greetings.
Early childhood represents a crucial brain development phase, with past studies indicating that lower household incomes correlate with variations in brain structure and poorer cognitive outcomes. Additionally, heightened parental stress due to lower incomes can influence an infant’s social development.
So, the research team believes their findings emphasize the importance of financial support and other resources for caregivers.
“Future research is needed to determine exactly which infant cues or behavioral differences might have led to the observed differences in caregiver greeting,” Shultz concluded.
To read the study’s complete findings, which have since been published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, visit the link here.
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