Naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions (NDBI) are an evidence-based class of early interventions for improving language and social communication skills in autistic children. However, relatively little is known about how individual elements of NDBI support child development. This commentary focuses on one common element across NDBI models: the simplification of adult language input. Advances in developmental science focusing on the length and complexity of adult spoken utterances suggests that natural, grammatical utterances facilitate comprehension and expressive language development in autistic and nonautistic children. Yet, NDBI tend to recommend shorter and simpler adult utterances. We close by describing directions for future research which would inform recommendations around adult language input in NDBI to optimally support child language and communication development.
Keywords: autism spectrum disorder; children; communication; early intervention; language; modeling; naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions.
© 2022 The Authors. Autism Research published by International Society for Autism Research and Wiley Periodicals LLC.