Oromotor Deficits in Minimally Verbal Children with ASD

项目摘要/摘要 影响自闭症儿童功能言语正常习得的因素 (ASD)仍不清楚。建议的研究使用基于计算机的生物力学评估来(1)识别 MV ASD儿童的运动障碍；(2)确定MV ASD儿童的运动障碍是否 特定于牙列运动系统或在全球范围内扩展；(3)确定牙列运动的严重程度 当非语言智商被控制时，缺陷预示着沟通发展的障碍；以及(4) 确定患有MV ASD的儿童的口腔运动发育和语言能力是如何随时间变化的。这个 该项目的科学前提是，基于生物力学的评估将产生直接、客观和高度的 有关MV ASD儿童运动能力的可复制信息。为了实现我们的目标，我们将 获得60名患有MV ASD的儿童、45名年龄和性别匹配的儿童的全面的口腔运动表现概况 患有自闭症的言语儿童和45名使用非侵入性3D面部动作捕捉的类似匹配的TD对照组 技术我们还将获得言语和语言能力的临床测量，以及几个精选的测量 粗大的运动功能。所有措施将在三个时间点内每12个月纵向获得一次。健壮 将使用统计建模方法来表征机动性能的个体变化模式 以及言语运动技能的获得与其他发展领域的技能之间的联系 (即语言和通用马达)。从这项研究中获得的信息将为 应对持续的临床和科学挑战所需的知识，包括改善早期发现 自闭症障碍，预测沟通结果，并确定神经生物学和遗传学 在这一群体中影响沟通发展的机制。

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT The factors that disrupt the normal acquisition of functional speech in minimally verbal (MV) children with autism (ASD) remain unknown. The proposed study uses computer-based biomechanic assessment to (1) Identify oromotor impairments in children with MV ASD; (2) Determine if the motor deficits in children with MV ASD are specific to the oromotor system or extend globally across motor systems; (3) Determine if the severity of oromotor deficit predicts impairments in communication development when nonverbal IQ is controlled for; and (4) Determine how oromotor development and language ability in children with MV ASD change over time. The scientific premise for this project is that biomechanic-based assessments will yield direct, objective, and highly- replicable information about the oromotor capabilities of children with MV ASD. To accomplish our aims, we will obtain comprehensive profiles of oromotor performance from 60 children with MV ASD, 45 age- and sex-matched verbal children with ASD, and 45 similarly matched TD controls using non-invasive, 3D facial-motion capture technology. We will also obtain clinical measures of speech and language ability, and several selected measure of gross motor function. All measures will be obtained longitudinally every 12 months for three time points. Robust statistical modeling methods will be used to characterize individual patterns of change in oromotor performance and the association between the acquisition of speech motor skills and those in other developmental domains (i.e., language and general-motor). The information obtained from this study will provide the foundational knowledge needed to address ongoing clinical and scientific challenges including improving early detection of autism impairments, predicting communication outcomes, and identifying the neurobiological and genetic mechanisms affecting communication development in this population.