Enhancing Joint Attention Skills in Children on the Autism Spectrum through an Augmented Reality Technology-Mediated Intervention.

Patricia Pérez-Fuster,Antonio Ferrer,Lila Kossyvaki,Gerardo Herrera

doi:10.3390/children9020258

Abstract

In the present study, the effects of an intervention based on an augmented reality technology called Pictogram Room were examined. The objective of the intervention was to improve the responding to joint attention (RJA) skills of gaze following and pointing in six children on the autism spectrum between 3 and 8 years old. A multiple baseline single-subject experimental design was conducted for 12 weeks in a school setting. Results indicated that all of the participant children improved performance in RJA following the intervention. Improvements were maintained over time and generalised to real-world situations. These findings demonstrate that autistic children can improve their RJA skills with a targeted and engaging intervention based on an accessible augmented reality technology tool.

Highlights

Joint attention (JA) can be defined as the shared focus occurring when one individual gets the attention of another towards an object or event by means of eye-gazing, pointing or other verbal or non-verbal indications
Scores that were given to the participants within the Pictogram Room after they completed each game level showed that they all significantly improved their performance as the study progressed
These findings demonstrate that autistic children can improve their responding to JA (RJA) skills with a targeted and engaging intervention

Summary

Introduction

Joint attention (JA) can be defined as the shared focus occurring when one individual gets the attention of another towards an object or event by means of eye-gazing, pointing or other verbal or non-verbal indications. Research has indicated that IJA and RJA are two distinct forms of JA that develop differently—and are associated with different brain patterns [20]—as individuals grow older [21,22,23]. According to these studies, when children are at the preverbal stage, significant differences can be observed in the RJA and IJA skills of autistic children compared to non-autistic children, the first population being affected, especially in the ability for RJA. RJA difficulties are critical to many aspects of development in autistic children, with early language development being the most prominent one [27,29], whereas IJA difficulties appear to be more associated with developmentally chronic differences associated with autism symptoms [30]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion