Prelinguistic Communication and Joint Attention

Abstract

This chapter reviews prelinguistic communication and joint attention in infants with typical development and in individuals with autism spectrum disorder who have minimal verbal skills. Joint attention is described as triadic coordination or sharing between self, communication partner, and an object or event. From early on, infants show developmental progression in joint attention abilities. Joint attention in infancy can be classified into two types, depending on if infants are responding to others’ joint attention bids (by following another person’s eye gaze and/or points) or spontaneously initiating joint attention overtures with others (by producing triadic gaze shift, pointing and/or showing gestures). By 13 months of age, young children with typical development enter into sustained episodes of coordinated joint engagement. Individuals with autism spectrum disorder have differences in both joint attention and sustained joint engagement. Joint attention abilities relate to concurrent and later language development in individuals with autism spectrum disorder. Teaching joint attention, symbolic play, and imitation may affect other areas of development. Clinical implications for promoting joint attention in individuals with or at risk for autism spectrum disorder are discussed.