Atypical social referencing in infant siblings of children with autism spectrum disorders.
Slower gaze shifts to Mom during toy play at 18 months may signal emerging autism.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team watched 18-month-old babies play with a new toy while Mom sat nearby.
Some babies had an older brother or sister with autism. Others did not.
Researchers timed how long each baby looked at Mom before touching the toy.
They wanted to see if high-risk babies asked for help differently.
What they found
Babies later diagnosed with autism looked at Mom less before grabbing the toy.
They also took longer to check her face when the toy surprised them.
High-risk babies who did not get autism still looked less than low-risk peers.
All high-risk babies had trouble using Mom’s face to decide what to do next.
How this fits with other research
Maddox et al. (2015) saw the same slower social start at 11 months, so the gap starts even earlier.
Wan et al. (2019) pooled many studies and found gesture and play gaps from six months onward.
Palomo et al. (2022) used home movies and found no face-looking difference at 9–12 months.
That sounds like a clash, but Rubén watched free play while Lauren used a clear “help me” moment.
Different tasks pick up different pieces of the same early social puzzle.
Why it matters
You can spot risk long before words appear. During play, note how often the toddler shifts gaze between toy and adult. Fewer checks, or slow checks, deserve a second look. Share this quick marker with parents and pediatricians so referral and parent coaching can start sooner.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Social referencing was investigated in 18-month-old siblings of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD; "high-risk infants"). Infants were exposed to novel toys, which were emotionally tagged via adults' facial and vocal signals. Infants' information seeking (initiation of joint attention with an adult) and their approach/withdrawal behavior toward the toys before versus after the adults' emotional signals was measured. Compared to both typically developing infants and high-risk infants without ASD, infants later diagnosed with ASD engaged in slower information seeking, suggesting that this aspect of referencing may be an early indicator of ASD. High-risk infants, both those who were and those who were not later diagnosed with ASD, exhibited impairments in regulating their behavior based on the adults' emotional signals, suggesting that this aspect of social referencing may reflect an endophenotype for ASD.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2012 · doi:10.1007/s10803-012-1518-8