Gaze Performance in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder when Observing Communicative Actions

The main purpose of this eye tracking study was to map the correlates of gaze performance in a brief test of spontaneous gaze and point-gesture following in young children with autistic disorder (AD), Pervasive developmental disorder—not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS), or typical development (TD). Gaze measures included the children’s spontaneous tendency to look at the correct (attended) toy, and the latency of their correct responses. In addition to group differences (AD vs. TD), we found that in AD, accuracy of performance was specifically related to adaptive communication skills. The study also indicated that the latency of correct gaze shifts is related to verbal intelligence. These results have direct implications for our understanding of (responsive) joint attention impairments in AD.