Children with autism do not avoid eye contact, but miss social cues when gazing at others, a new study shows.
Researchers studied a mix of 86 neurotypical and autistic two-year-olds and found children on the spectrum didn’t look away from the eyes.
But the researchers in the US at Marcus Autism Center, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, and Emory University School of Medicine said when they used “socially meaningful” eye contact, children with autism spent less time gazing than neurotypical peers.
Social significance of eye contact
Researcher Warren Jones said: “They’re looking less at the eyes not because of an aversion to making eye contact, but because they don’t appear to understand the social significance of eye contact.”
Alongside other factors, reduced eye contact is a well-known symptom of autism and is used in diagnosing the condition.
But why children with autism tend to look less at other people’s eyes was unclear before the research paper, Mechanisms of Diminished Attention to Eyes in Autism, was published in The American Journal of Psychiatry.
Warren Jones: “They don’t appear to understand the social significance of eye contact”
Different understandings of autism
Emory University graduate student Jennifer Moriuchi, who was also involved in the research, said the study is important because it helps disentangle different understandings of autism.
She added: “Depending on why you think children with autism are making less eye contact, you might have different approaches to treatment and different ideas about the brain basis of autism.
“Drug treatments and behavioural interventions are already being developed and tested on the basis of these different explanations.”
Socially meaningful gazing
The children involved in the study saw a series of videos. Before each one the researchers flashed a picture to capture their attention.
When they looked to where the picture had been, they found that they were either gazing directly at another person’s eyes or away from the eyes.
The children with autism didn’t look away, but differences emerged when they were tested on socially meaningful gazing.
Published: 23 November 2016
