Effects of different attentional cues on responding to joint attention in younger siblings of children with autism spectrum disorders.

The team watched baby siblings of autistic children during a short lab game. An adult looked at a toy and gave either words, a point, or both.

They asked: do these babies follow the adult’s gaze as well as babies with no family history of autism?

The autism-risk babies looked at the toy less often. When the adult used both words and a point, the gap closed.

A point alone was the key. It helped the at-risk babies catch up when the other cue was weak.

Sullivan et al. (2007) saw the same RJA lag in the same age group. Their babies were later diagnosed, showing the lag is an early red flag.

Bottema-Beutel (2016) pooled many studies and found that RJA links to later language most strongly in autistic children. So catching the lag matters.

MacDonald et al. (2006) built the simple task G et al. adapted. The protocol is short and reliable, so you can repeat it in clinic.

Piatti et al. (2024) added brain data: autistic toddlers show weaker right-temporal activation during RJA. The behavior gap now has a neural match.

If you assess a toddler with an autistic sibling, give a point cue during your RJA probe. One extra gesture can reveal true ability and guide earlier language goals.