Atypical Cry Acoustics in 6-Month-Old Infants at Risk for Autism Spectrum Disorder

This study examined differences in acoustic characteristics of infant cries in a sample of babies at risk for autism and a low‐risk comparison group. Cry samples derived from vocal recordings of 6‐month‐old infants at risk for autism spectrum disorder (ASD; n = 21) and low‐risk infants (n = 18) were subjected to acoustic analyses using analysis software designed for this purpose. Cries were categorized as either pain‐related or non‐pain‐related based on videotape coding. At‐risk infants produced pain‐related cries with higher and more variable fundamental frequency (F 0) than low‐risk infants. At‐risk infants later classified with ASD at 36 months had among the highest F 0 values for both types of cries and produced cries that were more poorly phonated than those of nonautistic infants, reflecting cries that were less likely to be produced in a voiced mode. These results provide preliminary evidence that disruptions in cry acoustics may be part of an atypical vocal signature of autism in early life. Autism Res 2012, ••: ••–••. © 2012 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.