Response to UM Study

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From: BADILLO9@...To: sList Sent: 3/3/2010 8:21:39 P.M. Eastern Standard TimeSubj: Fwd: Here & apos;s the actual study from UM

From: mab2247@...To: BADILLO9@...Sent: 3/3/2010 8:07:00 P.M. Eastern Standard TimeSubj: Re: Here & apos;s the actual study from UM

In regards to the previous comments made, i want to clarify some of the information from the study. I have brother with autism and I am currently a graduate student at Columbia University with great interest in studying individuals with autism and their families.A direct quote from the study, "As predicted, there was a significant positive association between maternal sensitivity at 18 months and expressivelanguage growth across the third year for children with emergent ASD. Together, these findings and those of Siller and Sigman (2002, 2008) and Aldred et al. (2004) suggest that parenting is an important contributor to the promotionof language among children with or at-risk for ASD at various developmental stages. (found on page 8)In Other Words: A positive association means a positive correlation. A positive correlation is a direct association between two variables, as one variable becomes large, the other also becomes large. In the context of this study, this means the GREATER THE MATERNAL SENSITIVITY, THE GREATER THE LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT WAS FOUND in the children who were at risk for developing ASD. (aka higher maternal sensitivity scores were correlated with higher language development scores.I also want to stress to you that correlations to not equal causation! Be very weary of this. Maternal sensitivity does not cause children with autism to have language skills (and the vise versa, parents with low maternal sensitivity does not cause poor language skills). There is a relationship between these two concepts and it is important to explore this relationship With Further Research as these researchers suggested in the article, we can begin to pick apart the other factors that can determine this relationship (the authors also suggest further research as well, see page 11)So in my closing remarks, I don't want the message from this study to be that it is maternal insensitivity that is causing autism because these are not the findings of the study. However, maternal sensitivity does seem to make a positive influence on the language development for children who are at risk for ASD but this is not a causal factor! Your warm and consistent care giving does seem to influence your child's language development and without your loving care, your child may not be at their greatest potential, so I commend you parents and because you can make a difference in your child's development.If you have any more questions or comments please email meThanks,Marina BadilloMab2247@...B.A. Psychology - University of Western OntarioM.A Social Work - Columbia University