Social approach and autistic behavior in children with fragile X syndrome.

The team built a new tool called the Social Approach Scale. They used it to watch how children with fragile X acted around other people.

They tracked small moves like eye contact and body turns. Then they asked if these moves linked to autism scores on standard checklists.

Kids who gave more eye contact had lower autism scores. The scale caught tiny shifts that old checklists missed.

In short, better eye contact meant fewer autistic behaviors in daily life.

Waldron et al. (2023) looked at preschoolers and saw the same eye-contact drop in fragile X, but they also showed that kids with non-syndromic autism look away from faces even more. The 2007 finding still holds; it just looks smaller when autism is in the mix.

Klein et al. (2024) went a step further. They taught kids to shift gaze using praise and tokens. Fragile X learners needed extra trials, yet they still gained eye contact and their autism scores fell. This turns the 2007 link into a trainable skill, not just a marker.

Hall et al. (2006) saw the flip side: when tasks got social, kids escaped and eye contact dropped. Together the papers draw one picture—eye contact rises when demands feel safe and falls when stress climbs.

You already watch eye contact informally. Now you can score it with a quick scale and track change after teaching or demand fades. If eye contact jumps, expect fewer stereotypic or withdrawn behaviors. Use that data to show parents and funders why social skills work is worth the hours.