Limited activity monitoring in toddlers with autism spectrum disorder

This study used eye-tracking to examine how 20-month-old toddlers with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) (n = 28), typical development (TD) (n = 34), and non-autistic developmental delays (DD) (n = 16) monitored the activities occurring in a context of an adult–child play interaction. Toddlers with ASD, in comparison to control groups, showed less attention to the activities of others and focused more on background objects (e.g., toys). In addition, while all groups spent the same time overall looking at people, toddlers with ASD looked less at people's heads and more at their bodies. In ASD, these patterns were associated with cognitive deficits and greater autism severity. These results suggest that the monitoring of the social activities of others is disrupted early in the developmental progression of autism, limiting future avenues for observational learning.

Research Highlights
► At 20-months, toddlers with ASD monitor others’ activities less than DD or TD peers.
► Instead toddlers with ASD attend more to background objects (e.g. toys).
► When looking at people, toddlers with ASD look less at faces and more at bodies.
► These atypical looking patterns are associated with social and cognitive deficits.
► Decreased activity monitoring may limit avenues for learning in ASD.