Eye-tracking training improves visuospatial working memory of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and autism spectrum disorder.
Eye-tracking homework club lifted visuospatial working memory and flexibility in primary pupils with both autism and ADHD.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team ran an after-school eye-tracking club for primary-school kids who have both autism and ADHD.
Kids completed twenty short sessions across nine months while a computer logged their eye moves.
A wait-list group stayed in regular class until they got the same training later.
What they found
Children who did the eye drills scored higher on visuospatial working-memory tests than the wait-list kids.
They also showed better cognitive flexibility, meaning they could switch rules or plans more easily.
The gains were medium in size and showed up after the full nine-month run.
How this fits with other research
Rieth et al. (2022) saw the same pattern: computer brain games helped only the autistic kids who also had strong ADHD traits.
de Vries et al. (2018) tried EF training in autism-only pupils and found only tiny benefits, hinting that the ADHD piece may be the key motor.
Fisher et al. (2005) is the cautionary tale: old-style EF lessons failed to move EF scores at all, showing that newer eye-tracking or game formats can succeed where older drills did not.
Zheng et al. (2025) moved the idea down to preschoolers with ADHD symptoms and saw only weak digit-span gains, so the bigger, longer eye-tracking dose in the present study may be needed for wider EF change.
Why it matters
If you serve autistic learners who also show ADHD traits, consider adding short eye-tracking warm-ups to your after-school program.
The low-cost computer task doubled as both assessment and intervention, giving you data and skill growth at once.
Start with ten-minute blocks, track visuospatial memory monthly, and extend the sequence across the school year to match the dose that worked here.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Given the close connection between eye movement and frontal lobe functions and some evidence supporting the effect of eye-tracking training on enhancing cognitive performance mediated by the frontal lobe, this study aimed to explore if after-school eye-tracking training can improve the visuospatial working memory (VSWM) and cognitive flexibility performance in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study is a non-randomized cluster trial. Forty children from eight primary schools were selected, half receiving eye-tracking training for 20 sessions over 9 months, while the other half served as a waitlist control. They were matched on demographic characteristics and baseline cognitive performance. Their VSWM and cognitive flexibility were assessed at the beginning and end of the study. Results showed that children who received eye-tracking training, but not those on a waitlist, exhibited significant improvements in the total score and working memory span of the VSWM tests, and the correct responses in cognitive flexibility tests. Specifically, VSWM performance at higher span levels (5 or above) yielded a greater improvement. The findings suggest that eye-tracking training can be a feasible and effective after-school program for improving working memory and cognitive flexibility performance in children with ADHD and ASD. This study was prospectively registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (https://clinicaltrials.gov/, trial number: NCT05428657).
Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research, 2024 · doi:10.1002/aur.3238