Word Learning From Parentese in Autistic Children (AWOLI)

October 21, 2025 updated by: Dr. Pumpki Lei Su, The University of Texas at Dallas

Autism Word Learning and Infant Directed-Speech

The overall objective of this research is to determine whether parentese delivered in the video format (Aim 1) and in live interaction (Aim 2) facilitates novel word learning in autistic children and to investigate if there are factors that influence the effect of parentese on word learning (Aim 3).

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Caregivers frequently use parentese, also known as infant-directed speech (IDS), when speaking to young children. Compared to adult registered speech, parentese is typically characterized by greater pitch variation, longer duration, and louder volume. Parentese facilitates early language development in typically developing (TD) children. However, it remains unknown whether the facilitative effect of parentese on language learning can be generalized to clinical populations such as autistic children given that core autism features (e.g., sensory and social communication differences) may interact with how they process and learn from parentese. Most autistic children do not reach age-appropriate language ability even if they receive timely early intervention. Determining if autistic children can learn language from parentese, a common way language input is provided to young children, is a critical first step toward understanding whether language input needs to be adjusted to optimize their language development.

The overall objective of this research is to determine whether parentese facilitates novel word learning in autistic children and to investigate if the effect of parentese is conditional upon input factors (recorded parentese vs live parentese presented in social interaction) and child factors (extreme responses to auditory input, social motivation). In Aim 1, the investigators will use a video-based word learning paradigm to determine the effect of recorded parentese on novel word learning in autistic children compared to language-matched TD peers. Aim 2 focuses on the effect of live parentese on novel word learning: an experimenter will teach children two novel words, presented in live parentese or live parentese, during social interaction. Aim 3 will examine whether child factors (extreme responses to auditory input, social motivation) explain variability in word learning accuracy from recorded parentese and live parentese in the autistic group. Children's extreme responses to auditory input (including hyper- and hypo-responsiveness) and social motivation will be measured using caregiver questionnaires and will be used to predict word learning accuracy from recorded parentese (Aim 1) and live parentese (Aim 2) in the autistic group.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

100

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • children with or without a diagnosis of ASD between 18 and 59 months

Exclusion Criteria:

  • hears another language more than 10% of time based on parent report
  • has uncorrected visual impairment or hearing impairment
  • has developmental disorders or medical conditions other than ASD that affect language or cognition (excepting psychiatric conditions often comorbid with ASD such as ADHD)

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Basic Science
  • Allocation: Non-Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Parentese
All participants will learn novel words in two conditions (parentese vs adult register) in each of the experiment (video and live word learning). In the Parentese condition, participants will listen to sentences that contain novel words in parentese.
Behavioral: Parentese Speech
Novel words are introduced in parentese, a type of speech that is typically characterized by greater pitch variation, longer duration, and louder volume
Other Names:
  • Infant-Directed Speech
Active Comparator: Adult Register
All participants will learn novel words in two conditions (parentese vs adult register) in each of the experiment (video and live word learning). In the Adult Register condition, participants will listen to sentences that contain novel words in adult register speech.
Behavioral: Adult Registered Speech
Novel words are introduced in standard adult register.
Other Names:
  • Adult-Directed Speech

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Proportion of time during which children's eye gaze is directed toward the target object
Time Frame: 300 ms after the target words are introduced
Children's eye gaze is recorded as they look at images. The proportion of time during which gaze is directed to an image of the targeted word is the dependent measure.
300 ms after the target words are introduced

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

The University of Texas at Dallas

Collaborators

National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Pumpki L. Su, PhD, University of Texas at Dallas

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

October 4, 2024

Primary Completion (Estimated)

March 1, 2028

Study Completion (Estimated)

March 1, 2028

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

October 17, 2024

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 17, 2024

First Posted (Actual)

October 21, 2024

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimated)

October 23, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 21, 2025

Last Verified

October 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • IRB-24-616
  • R21DC021803 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

This was what was proposed in the study dissemination plan: Summary results of the primary outcomes for all aims will be uploaded to ClinicalTrials.gov within 12 months of the data collection for the final participants.

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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