Visual statistical learning and social attention in neurotypical, minimally speaking and speaking autistic preschoolers

Autistic children experience atypical patterns of spoken language acquisition, yet the mechanisms underlying these differences remain poorly understood. In typical development, spoken language acquisition is gated by statistical learning abilities (the ability to detect patterns) and social attention (preferential engagement with social vs. non-social stimuli). The potential role of these mechanisms in the spoken language atypicalities seen in autism are under-researched, partly due to the methodological barriers when assessing children with minimal spoken language in this population. Here we examined statistical learning and social attention in 13 autistic preschoolers who use spoken language (mean chronological age = 34.38, SD = 8.16), 15 autistic preschoolers with minimal or no spoken language (mean chronological age = 30.20, SD = 7.07), and 15 neurotypical peers (mean chronological age = 36.73, SD = 6.51) using novel eye-tracking paradigms. Participants across groups showed evidence of statistical learning (anticipation of future events based on previous events) and showed preferential attention for social over non-social stimuli, with no between-groups differences. Within-group analyses revealed no association between spoken language skills, measured via the Mullen Scales of Early Learning Expressive Language and the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales Expressive Communication subscales, and total fixation duration indexes of statistical learning and social attention in the eye-tracking paradigms. Our findings point to previously unknown strengths in autistic children who are minimally speaking across statistical learning and social attention, suggesting that spoken language differences in this population might be unrelated to these domains.