Atypical gaze following in autism: a comparison of three potential mechanisms.

The team watched 30 autistic and 30 non-autistic preschoolers. All kids sat at a screen. A face on the left or right looked to a toy. Cameras tracked where the child looked next.

They tested three ideas: Do autistic kids miss the look because they ignore faces, because they can't shift eyes fast, or because the reflex itself is weak?

Only one idea fit the data. Autistic kids looked at the face just as long, but they were slower to follow its gaze. Their word learning from gaze matched their developmental age, not their diagnosis.

In short, the reflex to follow a gaze cue is weak, not just delayed.

Muth et al. (2014) saw the same slow gaze in older kids. They showed that after watching two adults make eye contact, typical kids speed up their gaze following, but autistic kids do not. Together the two papers say the problem is not speed alone; autistic children miss the social meaning of eye contact.

Spriggs et al. (2015) looked even younger. Babies later diagnosed with autism started out looking at eyes, then lost interest and never got it back. Bigham et al. (2013) shows the gap is still there at preschool, so the atypical path is long-lasting.

Geurts et al. (2008) used home videos and found gaze and affect problems at 6 months. The lab data now confirm parents' early reports with precise eye-tracking.

Do not assume a preschooler who can name objects will follow your gaze. Check reflexive gaze in your assessment battery. If it is weak, teach attention to faces first, then pair gaze with words. Use brief trials and clear head turns. Track progress with eye-tracking or simple video; change the program when gaze following improves, not just when vocabulary grows.