SchaferAutismReport: Autistic Children Make Limited Eye Contact

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Subject: Autistic Children Make Limited Eye Contact

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Vol. 12 No. 124p

In This Issue:

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RESEARCH

Autistic Children Make Limited Eye Contact

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MEDIA

Epidemic Threatens Britain -- Measles, Not Autism

Parents Sound Off On Childhood Vaccine Divide

Sensory Friendly Films For Children With Autism

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Police Locate Disabled Teen Who Had Run Off In NJ

Aussie Parents On The Run With Baby After Refusing Vaccination

Arizona Mom Speaks Out After Music Therapist Is Arrested

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Obama, Are You That Guy (For Autism)? " I Am. "

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RESEARCH

Autistic Children Make Limited Eye Contact

By Serena Gordon, HealthDay Reporter. tinyurl.com/4d9erb

While poor eye contact has long been a

suspected sign of possible autism, researchers at Yale University have used

" eye-mapping technology " to prove that children with autism don't

make eye contact like normally developing children do.

Published in the August issue of the

Archives of General Psychiatry, the new research found that children with

autism spent more time looking at an adult's mouth instead of gazing into

the eyes.

" Just as the eyes are the window to the

soul, the eyes are also a window into social development, " said study

senior author Ami Klin, director of the autism program at Yale University

School of Medicine.

Klin said that by using eye-mapping

technology, it's possible that a vulnerability for autism could be

identified much earlier than is currently possible. And, he said, " The

earlier we are able to identify children, the better it is, because early

interventions make a difference in optimizing children's outcomes. "

It's estimated that autism, a developmental

disorder that disrupts communication and social interaction, affects about

3.4 out of every 1,000 children between the ages of 3 and 10, according to

the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). Parents are generally

the first to notice early signs of autism. The NIMH says that some known

early signs that may indicate an autism spectrum disorder in a child

include:

• By age 1, doesn't babble, point or

gesture.

• Doesn't speak a single word by 16

months.

• By age 2, hasn't combined two words.

• Seems to lose language skills.

• Interacts poorly socially.

• Doesn't respond to his or her name.

• Doesn't smile.

• Makes poor eye contact.

• Doesn't appear to know how to play

with toys and may repeatedly line up toys or other objects.

For the new study, Klin and his colleagues,

including Warren , compared 15 children with autism to 36 typically

developing children, and to another 15 children who were developmentally

delayed but not autistic. All of the children were 2 years old.

The children were shown 10 videos of adults

looking directly into the camera and mimicking caregiving and playing with

the child. While the videos were running, the researchers used eye tracking

to assess the child's visual fixation patterns.

They found that children with autism spent

significantly less time looking at the eyes than did typically developing

children or the developmentally delayed group. Autistic children looked at the

eyes about 30 percent of the time, compared to nearly 55 percent for both

of the other groups.

Children with autism spent almost 40 percent

of the time looking at the mouth area, while children in the other groups

only spent about 24 percent of the time looking at this area.

Eye fixation in children with autism also

appeared to predict the level of social disability. Those who had greater

social disabilities spent less time looking at the eye area, according to

the study.

" We've always had a sense that children

with autism don't make eye contact, but this study confirms it in a

higher-tech way, " said , director of the autism center

at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh.

said she'd like to see this study

confirmed in a larger group of children. Klin added that he and his

colleagues are currently conducting a prospective study in children at a

higher risk of autism to see " if there's a derailment in the process

of social engagement, " and if so, when that happens.

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