LAUSR

Younger siblings of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD; high‐risk siblings) are at elevated risk for developing the broader autism phenotype (BAP), which consists of subclinical features of ASD. We examined conversational skills in a naturalistic context and standardized assessments of pragmatic language and communication skills in high‐risk and low‐risk school‐age children with BAP (n = 22) and ASD (n = 18) outcomes, as well as comparison children without ASD or BAP (n = 135). Children with BAP characteristics exhibited lower conversational skills than comparison children, but did not differ on any of three standardized measures. Only the conversational ratings significantly predicted membership in the BAP versus Comparison group. This suggests that naturalistic tasks are crucial when assessing social‐communication difficulties in children with a family history of ASD.