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Observational study reveals social-communication skills predict language outcomes in young children with autism spectrum disorders, highlighting imitation and joint attention as early intervention...
Individual differences in infant social-communication abilities as well as diagnosis may predict language outcome in preschoolers with autism spectrum disorders. Attention should be directed at assessing these skills in 2- and 3-year-old children referred for a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. Imitation and joint attention abilities may be important targets for early intervention.
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Charman et al. (2003) studied this question.
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