Gaze tracking according to eye or head orientation: An eye-tracking study in children with autism syndrome disorder
Cilia, Federica
Gaze tracking according to eye or head orientation: An eye-tracking study in children with autism syndrome disorder - 2023.
57
Joint attention involves one partner focusing their attention on an object and, at the same time, another partner concentrating their own attention on the same object. Because of the distinctive characteristics associated with their communication and social interaction skills, this ability is generally atypical in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We studied the impact of the deictic cue used to initiate visual joint attention behavior. This eye-tracking study involved ASD children whose communicative developmental age (21 months 10 days +/− 8 months 8 days) was far below their chronological age (7 years 5 months +/− 2 years 6 months). Two control groups of typical children, one matched in chronological age and the other in developmental age, were formed. The stimulus presented an actress directing her eyes or head toward a referent object. The data were analyzed using an innovative methodology involving the a posteriori definition of visual zones of interest. In the different conditions, the ASD children paid less attention to the actress’s face, which limited their ability to take in information. Our results concerning visual fixations on the referent allow us to conclude that the orientation of the eyes or the head are not salient enough for children with ASD to respond to a proposal of joint attention. In clinical practice, the addition of other deictic cues, such as gestures, seems essential for ASD children with a communicative developmental age of less than 30 months.
Gaze tracking according to eye or head orientation: An eye-tracking study in children with autism syndrome disorder - 2023.
57
Joint attention involves one partner focusing their attention on an object and, at the same time, another partner concentrating their own attention on the same object. Because of the distinctive characteristics associated with their communication and social interaction skills, this ability is generally atypical in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We studied the impact of the deictic cue used to initiate visual joint attention behavior. This eye-tracking study involved ASD children whose communicative developmental age (21 months 10 days +/− 8 months 8 days) was far below their chronological age (7 years 5 months +/− 2 years 6 months). Two control groups of typical children, one matched in chronological age and the other in developmental age, were formed. The stimulus presented an actress directing her eyes or head toward a referent object. The data were analyzed using an innovative methodology involving the a posteriori definition of visual zones of interest. In the different conditions, the ASD children paid less attention to the actress’s face, which limited their ability to take in information. Our results concerning visual fixations on the referent allow us to conclude that the orientation of the eyes or the head are not salient enough for children with ASD to respond to a proposal of joint attention. In clinical practice, the addition of other deictic cues, such as gestures, seems essential for ASD children with a communicative developmental age of less than 30 months.
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