Caravel Undergraduate Research Journal
Abstract
Children with Down syndrome (DS), fragile X syndrome (FXS), or younger siblings of a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASIB) often exhibit atypical object exploration and social engagement, which can affect important learning opportunities. The purpose of this study was to examine group differences in social attention shifting and attentional disengagement between infants with DS, FXS, and ASIBs. This study utilized data from a longitudinal study collected from 12-month-old infants with DS (n = 13), FXS (n = 14), and ASIBs (n = 24). No group differences were seen for social attention shifting. However, infants with DS showed significantly worse attentional disengagement than infants with FXS or ASIB infants (p-values <.005). Differential patterns of association between attention and language abilities were observed across groups. Findings underscore the importance of attention as a developmental foundation and suggest there may be unique developmental pathways across different etiologies.
Recommended Citation
Robinson, Isabelle
(2022)
"Attentional Mechanisms of Language in Infants with Down Syndrome, Fragile X Syndrome and Siblings of Children with Autism,"
Caravel Undergraduate Research Journal: Vol. 10, Article 3.
Available at:
https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/caravel/vol10/iss1/3