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Canonical Babbling May Differ Between Autistic and Non-Autistic Toddlers in Consonant Transition Probabilities.

Marielle Weyland^1,2, Pauline Maes^1,3, Mikhail Kissine^1,4,5

¹ACTE, LaDisco and ULB Neuroscience Institute, Université libre de Bruxelles, Belgium.

Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research : JSLHR

|June 8, 2026

Summary

Autistic children’s canonical babbling (early speech sounds) shows more predictable patterns than non-autistic children’s, even with similar babbling frequency. This structural difference in speech development may indicate early group distinctions.

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Area of Science:

Speech-language pathology
Developmental psychology
Autism spectrum disorder research

Background:

Canonical babbling is crucial for speech development.
Atypical babbling can signal speech disabilities.
Autism is linked to speech delays, but babbling patterns are unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

Investigate if sequential organization of babbling differs between autistic and non-autistic children.
Explore if babbling structure, not just frequency, reveals early group differences.

Main Methods:

Analyzed at-home recordings of 36 eighteen-month-olds (10 autistic, 26 non-autistic).
Calculated transition probabilities of consonant categories in canonical babbling.
Assessed sequence predictability (Shannon entropy) and repetition (stay probability).

Main Results:

No significant difference in canonical babbling frequency between groups.
Autistic children's babbling sequences were more predictable and less varied.
Overall babbling transition structures differed significantly between autistic and non-autistic children.

Conclusions:

Babbling structure, not frequency, distinguishes autistic and non-autistic children at 18 months.
More constrained global organization in babbling may be an early marker in autism.
Further research into babbling structure is warranted for early identification.