Eye gaze differences in school scenes between preschool children and adolescents with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder and those with typical development

Yuko Ishizaki,Yoshitoki Yanagimoto,Hodaka Kobayashi,Kazunari Kaneko,Atsushi Noritake,Takahiro Higuchi,Kae Nakamura

doi:10.1186/s13030-020-00203-w

Abstract

BackgroundChildren with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may experience difficulty adapting to daily life in a preschool or school settings and are likely to develop psychosomatic symptoms. For a better understanding of the difficulties experienced daily by preschool children and adolescents with ASD, this study investigated differences in eye gaze behavior in the classroom environment between children with ASD and those with typical development (TD).MethodsThe study evaluated 30 children with ASD and 49 children with TD. Participants were presented with images of a human face and a classroom scene. While they gazed at specific regions of visual stimuli, eye tracking with an iView X system was used to evaluate and compare the duration of gaze time between the two groups.ResultsCompared with preschool children with TD, preschool children with ASD spent less time gazing at the eyes of the human face and the object at which the teacher pointed in the classroom image. Preschool children with TD who had no classroom experience tended to look at the object the teacher pointed at in the classroom image.ConclusionChildren with ASD did not look at the human eyes in the facial image or the object pointed at in the classroom image, which may indicate their inability to analyze situations, understand instruction in a classroom, or act appropriately in a group. This suggests that this gaze behavior of children with ASD causes social maladaptation and psychosomatic symptoms. A therapeutic approach that focuses on joint attention is desirable for improving the ability of children with ASD to adapt to their social environment.

Highlights

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may experience difficulty adapting to daily life in a preschool or school settings and are likely to develop psychosomatic symptoms
The most beneficial result of this study was that preschool children with typical development (TD)—even those with no previous classroom experience—looked at the object to which the teacher pointed in the classroom scene, which indicated that they may understand others’ intentions
These results suggest that preschool children with TD and no classroom experience are equipped with the ability for joint attention in the classroom setting; this ability has not been acquired by adolescents with ASD

Summary

Introduction

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may experience difficulty adapting to daily life in a preschool or school settings and are likely to develop psychosomatic symptoms. Psychosomatic symptoms are prevalent among children with ASD because they often experience social maladaptation, especially school refusal [2]. Children with ASD have restricted interests and behaviors that may cause them to struggle with behaving like other children who have typical development (TD). Their behaviors are often misunderstood, and they may be scolded by their teachers or bullied by their friends [2]. Because children with ASD have difficulty expressing their feelings, they often develop psychosomatic symptoms [2]

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion