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Children with autism often have severe difficulties in social relations and communication, which are thought to begin in infancy. Earlier studies have suggested that the key difficulty in autism lies in the inability to share interest in an object with another person. However, it is also thought the origin of this impairment lies much earlier in the infant’s development. This study at Durham University examines the way in which pre-school children with autism orient their head and eyes towards the face of an adult who tries to attract their attention using name calls, touch and hand waves. It is thought that these difficulties in this area might be connected with other later characteristics of autism, such as delayed language development. 

Key findings

• Sharing attention with another person was related to the ability to meet another individual’s eyes (dyadic orienting).
• Poor dyadic orienting with autism was not associated with other behavioural problems in the first year of life, but it was related to a child’s current level of verbal and non-verbal communication of children with autism.
• Dyadic orienting impairment may be more strongly related to acts of shared attention, such as pointing and showing objects to another person, than in response to a request to give or take an object.
• Language may be related to joint attention, but its effect levels off for those with a high IQ.
• Qualitative case studies of three children who went to great lengths to avoid meeting the researcher’s gaze revealed that the most effective way of attracting their attention was by large movements like lifting arms or leaning forward. These children had some of the poorest language abilities of the sample and very delayed language onset.
• Joint attention may be a link between dyadic orienting and language. However, it is also possible that current language skills may assist children who have difficulties meeting the eyes of another person.  

About the study

The study compared the behaviour of two individually matched groups of pre-school children with and without autism, with a similar range of IQ scores. The researchers observed how the children responded over a 20 minute period during which an adult tried to attract their attention. Other tests were used to assess how the children shared attention and initiated contact. Parents were also interviewed using the Diagnostic Interview for Social and Communications Disorders to assess the child’s behaviour in the first year of life.

Key words 

Autism, language, gaze, dyadic, joint attention

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