Comparative strengths and challenges on face-to-face and computer-based attention tasks in autistic and neurotypical toddlers.
Autistic toddlers can stare at screens forever yet still miss live joint-attention cues—so probe social attention face-to-face even when sustained attention looks fine.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Subramaniam et al. (2023) watched autistic and neurotypical toddlers do two kinds of attention games. One game happened on a computer screen. The other happened face-to-face with a real person.
The team tracked where the kids looked and how long they stayed focused. They wanted to see which kind of task showed bigger differences between the groups.
What they found
On screens, autistic toddlers kept their gaze longer than neurotypical peers. Yet during live play they started and answered fewer joint-attention bids.
Both groups shifted attention away from toys at the same speed. Computer and live scores for thinking control looked the same.
How this fits with other research
Vernetti et al. (2024) extends these results. They used live eye-tracking and also saw autistic toddlers look less at the social partner. Together the studies show the deficit is real, not just a test-format flaw.
Older work mapped the same gaps. MacDonald et al. (2006) gave us a quick 15-minute protocol to count joint-attention bids. Schietecatte et al. (2012) linked poorer intention understanding to lower response rates. R et al. now add that screen-based sustained attention can mask these social shortfalls.
Piatti et al. (2024) peer inside the brain. Their fNIRS data show weaker right-temporal activation when autistic toddlers respond to joint attention. The behavioral drop R et al. report lines up with that neural quiet spot.
Why it matters
You may see a toddler sit calmly through a tablet game and think attention is fine. Check joint attention in live play before you write goals. Use the child's strong screen focus to teach social turns: pause videos, wait for eye contact, then resume. Pair the extra point cue shown in Neuringer et al. (2007) with your bids to boost responses. Track both kinds of attention so progress in one does not hide lag in the other.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The objectives were to compare patterns of visual attention in toddlers diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as compared to their sex- and age-matched neurotypical (NT) peers. Participants included 23 toddlers with ASD and 19 NT toddlers (mean age: 25.52 versus 25.21 months, respectively) assessed using computerized tasks to measure sustained attention, disengaging attention, and cognitive control, as well as an in-person task to assess joint attention. Toddlers in the ASD group showed increased looking durations on the sustained attention task, as well as reduced frequencies of responding to and initiating joint attention compared to NT peers, but showed no differences on tasks of disengaging attention and cognitive control. The results suggest that toddlers with ASD have attentional strengths that may provide a foundation for building attention, communicative, and ultimately, academic skills.
Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research, 2023 · doi:10.1002/aur.2983