These stimuli were used in the following experiment:

GERNSBACHER, M. A., SAUER, E. A., GEYE, H. M., SCHWEIGERT, E. K., & GOLDSMITH, H. H. (2008). Infant and toddler oral- and manual-motor skills predict later speech fluency in autism. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. [view PDF]

Month born: Jan Feb Mar April May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
6 mos. later: July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar April May June

Ok, because ____ was born in the month of ____ six months later would be the month of_____________. Can you think of something important that happened during that month of___, perhaps a visit with grandparents, or a move or ????.

EVENT: ___________________________________________________________

Right around the time that/when [6 mos. landmark] OR That year at Christmas/Thanksgiving etc

Could ____ already crawl? Y N

If YES

 was he crawling so that only his hands and knees were in contact with the floor

or

 was he crawling so that his stomach was more or less in contact with the floor

or

 was it the kind of crawling like an inch worm, where he’d bunch up his knees and hands and then stretch out and then bunch up again and stretch out?

If NO, did he ever roll to get where he wanted to go? Y N

 

Right around [6 mos. landmark] OR That year at Christmas/Thanksgiving etc

Could ____ already sit up unaided? Y N

Right around [6 mos. landmark] OR That year at Christmas/Thanksgiving etc

Was ___ already eating baby food, such as baby rice cereal or pureed vegetables?

If YES, When ____ was eating baby food, such as baby rice cereal or pureed vegetables, did ___ ever blow raspberries (if pause, define as “you know, blowing air through the lips so that the food spewed out of his mouth”)? Y N

Right around [6 mos. landmark] OR That year at Christmas/Thanksgiving etc If you were to dangle from a string, say an attractive toy or a pacifier or something that _____ might want to grab that was less than a foot away from ___’s body, could he reach for it and successfully grab it? Y N

If YES, did that happen often? Y N

Did you have a sense that it was purposeful reaching rather than just batting at it and then being lucky to get it? Y N

Do you have any photographs or video tape of ____ doing that? Y N

What about reaching and grabbing for (if mother) your earrings OR (if not mother) th dangling type of earrings that another woman who was holding ____ might be wearing? Y N

If YES, did that happen often? Y N

What about reaching and grabbing for someone’s eye glasses and successfully pulling them off the person’s face? Y N

If YES, did that happen often? Y N

Ok, NOW let’s think about when ____ had just turned one-year old. Did you have a oneyear birthday party for him? Y N

If YES, can you tell me about the party? [Possible probes: who attended, where held, what time of day]

Did you have a birthday cake for ___? Y N

If YES, did ____ reach his hands into the birthday cake? Y N

If YES, do you have any photographs or videotape of ____ reaching his hands into his birthday cake? Y N

If NO, can you think of anything else special that happened right around the time he turned one-year old?

EVENT: _____________________________________________________________

Around the time of his one-year birthday party [OR other special event], say the day of the party or the day before or after the birthday party,

IF “NO” TO CRAWL at 6 mos. ASK Could ____ crawl? Y N

If YES,

 was he crawling so that only his hands and knees were in contact with the floor

or

 was he crawling so that his stomach was more or less in contact with the floor

or

 was it the kind of crawling like an inch worm, where he’d bunch up his knees and hands and then stretch out and then or bunch up again and stretch out?

or

 was it more like a bear walk?

>>>>>IF “YES” TO CRAWL at 6 mos:

Around the time of his one-year birthday party [OR other special event], say the day of the party or the day before or after the birthday party,

Could ____ walk without holding onto something like a ledge or an adult’s hand? Y N

If YES, about how many steps? _________

Could _____ clap with a controlled movement and make a sound? Y N

If YES, did he do this often? Y N

If YES, do you have any photographs or video tape of him clapping? Y N

Right around the time of his one-year birthday party, could _____ stack a tower of say three or so children’s blocks? Y N

If YES, how big were the blocks? ___________________

If YES, did he like stacking blocks? Y N

If YES, did he stack blocks often? Y N

If YES, do you have any photographs or video tape of him stacking blocks? Y N

Right around the time of his first birthday, did _____ like to scribble with crayons or markers, while holding the crayon or marker all by himself? Y N

If YES, did he scribble with crayons or markers often? Y N

Right around the time of his first birthday, did _____ like to bang on his high chair tray either with his hands or with a cup or spoon? Y N

If YES, did he bang on his high chair tray often? Y N

If YES, do you have any photographs or video tape of him banging on his high chair tray? Y N

If NOT IN HIGH CHAIR, did he like to bang on other hard surfaces, for instance, a coffee table or the rail of his crib? Y N

Right around the time of his one-year birthday party, did ____ sometimes alert to his name being called? Y N

If YES, did ____ almost always alert to his name being called? Y N

Ok, let’s think about six months after ____’s one-year birthday party.

child born: Jan Feb Mar April May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec

18mos later: July+1yr Aug+1yr Sept+1yr Oct+1yr Nov+1yr Dec+1yr Jan+2yr Feb+2yr Mar+2yr April+2yr May+2yr June+2yr

That would be the month of _____ in the year _______. Can you think of something important that happened during that month of ______, perhaps a visit with grandparents, or a move or ????

(if the month is November = Thanksgiving; December = Christmas; July = fourth of July etc).

EVENT: __________________________________________________________________

[Because this is one of the most important aspects of this part of the interview, please be sure and identify a very crisp and well-remembered time landmark.]

During/at [18 mos. landmark] if _____ really wanted something that he couldn’t reach, say a favorite toy that he couldn’t get to, or a favorite food that was up on a shelf, which of the following best describes how he would indicate that? Would he (be sure to record what he would MOST LIKELY do if there is more than one response)

 Point and say the name of the thing he wanted

 Point and say something

 Point and scream

 Take you over to it by taking your hand

or

 Tantrum or scream (circle one)

Did he ______ [whatever chosen above as most likely] most all the time that he wanted something that he couldn’t reach? Y N

Right around the time of [18 mos. landmark] if you said something like “point to the light” or “point to the door,” could ____ do that? Y N

If YES, did he use a flat hand point or an extended index finger point?

 flat hand point

 extended index finger point

If YES, was he able to point to something familiar that was several feet away when you asked him to

 pretty much all the time

 just some of the time

or

 just rarely?

What did you enjoy most about ________ when he was this age? _________________________

Ok, NOW let’s think about when ____ had just turned TWO years old. Did you have a twoyear birthday party for him? Y N

If YES, can you tell me about the party? [Possible probes: who attended, where held, what time of day]

If NO, can you think about anything else special that happened right when he turned two?

EVENT: __________________________________________________

Around the time of the [2 yr. birthday party or 2 yr. landmark],

Did ____ like to build with duplos or other building type blocks? Y N

Did ____ like to put puzzles together? Y N

If YES, what type of puzzles: Was it

 The type of inset puzzle where the pieces don’t actually fit together and each piece has a knob or peg for holding and placing it into the puzzle board?

 The type of inset puzzle where each piece does NOT have a knob or peg on it

or

 The type of puzzles that had three or more pieces that fit together

Right around [2 yr. landmark], could ____ turn a round door knob to open a closed door?Y N

If NO, could he open doors that had lever type of door knobs? Y N

Around this time, could ____ blow through a straw, such as blowing bubbles in a glass of milk or water? Y N

Around this time, could ____ blow bubbles using bubble solution and a child’s bubble wand? Y N

Right around [2 yr. landmark], if you asked ____ to stick out his tongue could he do that? For example, when you took ___ to the doctor and the doctor wanted to look down his/her throat, could s/he stick out his tongue? Y N

If NO, could he stick out his tongue if you demonstrated it to him? Y N

Around this time, if you asked ____ to puff up his cheeks with air could he do that? Y N

If NO, could he puff up his cheeks with air if you demonstrated it to him? Y N

Around this time, could ____ blow his nose if you held up a tissue to his nose and said “now, blow?” Y N