Beyond the toddler years: A meta-analysis of communicative abilities in siblings of children with autism spectrum disorder.

Communication is a core challenge for individuals on the autism spectrum, and many autistic individuals experience challenges with language. Prospective studies of younger siblings of children with autism show that siblings not only have an increased likelihood of developing autism themselves, but that even siblings without an autism spectrum diagnosis are more likely to have a language delay as toddlers than their peers without familial history...