Shaping Social Eye Contact in Children With Autism Via Telehealth: A Parent‐Implemented Intervention
Parents in India learned via Zoom to shape real social eye contact in their preschoolers with autism—no prompts or food needed.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Two preschoolers in India joined the study. Their parents wanted more eye contact during play.
A BCBA met the families only on Zoom. She taught parents to shape eye contact step by step. No extra toys, no food rewards, no hand-over-hand prompts were used.
What they found
Both children soon looked at their parents’ eyes for fun. The looks lasted longer and happened more often.
Parents kept the gains after coaching ended. Eye contact stayed social, not just trained.
How this fits with other research
Pitetti et al. (2007) first showed parents can boost joint attention at home. They worked in person. This new study proves the same power works through a screen.
Silva et al. (2025) also coached parents online. They targeted broad communication. The current paper narrows the lens to one skill—eye contact—and still wins.
Bozkus-Genc et al. (2024) taught parents activity schedules with a computer module. They hit high fidelity. Live Zoom coaching in this study matched that fidelity for a different skill.
Why it matters
You can shape eye contact without leaving your office. Teach parents to watch, wait, and reinforce tiny looks. Try it in your next telehealth case. One clear skill, one happy family, zero extra materials.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
ABSTRACT Lack of social eye contact is a common characteristic of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and can limit opportunities for social interaction and social learning. The current study examined a parent‐implemented shaping procedure delivered through telehealth to promote eye contact during naturalistic social play for two preschool‐aged children with ASD in India. The intervention was implemented without prompting or nonsocial reinforcers, instead relying on preferred social activities. Both children learned to make eye contact, of various durations, across different activities. Self‐reports from the participating parents, along with individualized indices of happiness observed in the children, indicate a high degree of social validity. The findings support and extend prior research on shaping without prompting, suggesting that socially maintained eye contact in children with ASD can develop through flexible, naturalistic methods implemented by parents with remote supervision. Limitations of the study and directions for future research are discussed.
Behavioral Interventions, 2025 · doi:10.1002/bin.70044