Language-related abilities in ‘unaffected’ school-aged siblings of children with ASD

• School-aged siblings of children with ASD were drawn from a longitudinal sample enrolled in infancy.
• We examined language-related skills in siblings with non-ASD outcomes, aged 8–11.
• Siblings displayed below average scores in phonological awareness and phonological memory.
• In contrast, siblings displayed strong scores in word-level reading.
• Pragmatic language was unimpaired, however, it was lower than receptive/expressive language.
• Broad learning and language abilities need to be examined with a larger sample and comparison groups.

Siblings of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who do not have ASD outcomes are more likely than their peers to experience delays in language acquisition as preschoolers. However, less is known about how these siblings are faring when they are school-aged. We examined language-related abilities of 18 siblings with non-ASD outcomes, aged 8–11. On average, siblings performed more poorly than the normative sample in phonological memory and phonological awareness. In contrast, word-level reading was unimpaired. No deficits relative to norms were found on a direct child assessment and parent-report measure of pragmatic language; however, recommendations for further research in this area are made. Comparing two direct child assessments, this sample performed more poorly in pragmatics than receptive/expressive language. Language abilities in siblings of children with ASD is an area ripe for further investigation with larger sample sizes and appropriate comparison groups.