1. Projects
  2. Language Development in Children with Autism
  3. ASD Long-Term Outcomes Study (ALTOS)

ASD Long-Term Outcomes Study (ALTOS)

Principal Investigators: Inge-Marie Eigsti, Ph.D. and Deborah Fein, Ph.D.

Participants here are children who were diagnosed with autism in toddlerhood and experienced intensive therapy for several years. They have achieved an optimal outcome and have been tested at age seven, at age 11, and several times during adolescence and early adulthood. They show robust strengths in standardized test performance and complex syntax but still some weaknesses in detailed lexical organization (extending properties within categories) and in pragmatics (narratives, theory of mind). For more information, check out the ALTOS webpage here.

ALTOS logo

Clinical Updates

  • Orinstein, A., Tyson, K. E., Suh, J., Troyb, E., Helt, M., Rosenthal, M., Barton, M. L., Eigsti, I. M., Kelley, E., Naigles, L., Schultz, R. T., Stevens, M. C., & Fein, D. A. (2015) Psychiatric symptoms in youth with a history of autism and optimal outcome. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders 45, 3703-3714.
  • Orinstein, A.J., Helt, M. Troyb, E., Tyson, K., Barton, M., Eigsti, I-M., Naigles, L.R., & Fein, D.A. (2014) Intervention History of Children and Adolescents with High-Functioning Autism and Optimal Outcomes. Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics 35(4): 247-56.
  • Troyb E., Orinstein A., Tyson K., Eigsti I.M., Naigles L., Fein D. (2014) Restricted and Repetitive Behaviors in Individuals with a History of ASDs Who Have Achieved Optimal Outcomes. J Autism Dev Disorders 44, 3168-3184.
  • Fein, D., Barton, M., Eigsti, I-M., Kelley, E., Naigles, L., Schultz, R., Stevens, M., Helt, M., Orinstein, A., Rosenthal, M., Troyb, E., & Tyson, K. (2013) Optimal Outcome in Individuals with a History of Autism. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 54, 195-205.

In-Depth Language Analysis

  • Tyson, K., Kelley, E., Fein, D., Orinstein, A., Troyb, E., Barton, M., Eigsti, I., Naigles, L. Schultz, R. T., Stevens, M., Helt, M., Rosenthal, M. (2014) Language and verbal memory in individuals with a history of autism spectrum disorders who have achieved optimal outcomes. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders 44, 648-663.
  • Suh, J., Eigsti, I.M., Naigles, L., Barton, M., Kelley, E. A., and Fein, D.A. (2014). Narrative Abilities of Optimal Outcome Children and Adolescents with a Previous History of an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 44:1681–1694.
  • Naigles, L.R., Kelley, E., Troyb, E., & Fein, D. (2013) Residual difficulties with categorical induction in children with a history of autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.
  • Kelley, E., Naigles, L.R. & Fein, D. (2010) An In-Depth Examination of Optimal Outcome Children with a History of Autism Spectrum Disorders. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders 4, 526-538.
  • Kelley, E., Paul, J., Fein, D., & Naigles, L. (2006) Residual language deficits in children with a history of autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders 36, 807-828.

Brain Analysis

  • Eigsti, I.M., Stevens, M., Schultz, R.T., Barton, M., Kelley, E., Naigles, L., Orinstein, A., Troyb, E., Fein, D. A. (in press) Language comprehension and brain function in individuals with optimal outcomes from Autism. NeuroImage: Clinical.