2024-01-11 15:04:57
How a child views a social scene can be used to predict future social difficulties.
Children with autism focus their attention on different things in films than children without autism. Over the childhood years, these differences increase significantly, according to a new study led by the University of Geneva. “These results suggest that social attention should be considered early in clinical treatments,” the Geneva research team wrote in the study published in the journal eLife.
The researchers at the University of Geneva (Unige) examined children’s attention using the so-called eye tracking method, as Unige announced on Thursday. To do this, they had 166 autistic and 51 non-autistic children watch sequences of a cartoon. They recorded where the children’s eyes were directed. The study participants – all boys – were between two and seven years old and were tested repeatedly as they developed.
In the children without autism, the researchers observed a synchronization of gaze as they got older. Children increasingly focused their attention on the same elements of a scene.
This synchronization was missing in the autistic children. They showed an interest in other types of stimuli. For example, on objects or on certain irregularities in the cartoon landscape. Over time, each autistic child developed their own unique visual preferences. The researchers also found that the autistic children whose gaze was most similar to that of typically developing children functioned best in everyday life.
The way a child views a social scene, such as the cartoon being used, can be used to predict future social difficulties, according to the researchers. “This work shows that autistic children, if they do not show interest in social interactions early on, become increasingly disinterested,” explained study leader Marie Schaer in the Unige statement.
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