Mutual Gaze: An Active Ingredient for Social Development in Toddlers with ASD: A Randomized Control Trial

Rollins et al. (2020) added a mutual-gaze module to the Pathways early-intervention program for toddlers with autism.

They randomly assigned families to three groups: Pathways plus gaze training, Pathways without the gaze piece, or usual early-intervention services.

Therapists coached parents in short play sessions at home and clinic for six months.

Toddlers who got the gaze module showed bigger gains in social skills, back-and-forth play, and daily living skills than the other two groups.

Parents also reported smoother, more connected play with their child.

Rollins et al. (2016) ran an earlier, parent-only home version of Pathways without the gaze piece and still saw gains in eye contact and verbal turn taking. Rollins shows that adding a direct gaze target gives an extra boost.

Ingersoll (2012) used a brief imitation program and also lifted joint-attention initiations. Rollins mirrors this with a different social cue—gaze—suggesting several short, focused modules can each move the same core social skills.

Wang et al. (2023) found that simply asking preschoolers to pick a face during a game doubled their eye-looking. Rollins moves from the lab to real-life play and shows the same principle works when you build active gaze moments into natural routines.

If you run early-intervention sessions, weave brief, fun gaze games into play—roll a ball back only after the child looks at your eyes, or hold a favorite toy near your face until eye contact happens. These micro-moments cost no extra time and can sharpen social and adaptive gains beyond standard parent coaching.