Abstract
Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) commonly exhibit differences in social communication behaviors that form the foundation for peer engagement. While prior research has indicated that autistic children vocalize at a reduced rate during classroom social contact with their peers, it is unknown whether these difficulties are influenced by limited social contact with peers, a reduced vocalization rate overall, or both. This study investigated predictors of preschoolers’ rate of vocalizations during peer social contact (i.e., social vocalizations) from their proportion of classroom time in peer social contact and overall classroom vocalization rate (i.e., talkativeness) in children with ASD (n = 51), developmental disabilities (DD; n = 36), and typical development (TD; n = 44) across 14 inclusive classrooms. Automated, child-worn sensors dynamically tracked children’s location, orientation, and vocalizations throughout the school day. Multi-level modeling indicated that, compared to their typically developing peers, autistic preschoolers spent a lower proportion of their classroom time in social contact with peers, did not differ in their overall vocalization rate in the classroom, and vocalized at lower rates while in social contact with peers. While both time in peer social contact and talkativeness positively predicted social vocalization rates for all children, autistic preschoolers showed smaller increases in their social vocalization rate with more social contact time compared to their TD peers. No significant differences emerged between the ASD and DD group on any measure. Overall, these findings highlight the importance of increasing opportunities for social contact while leveraging autistic preschoolers’ existing talkativeness to enhance their social communication with peers.