Joint Attention In Children Research Articles

Review Paper : Promoting Joint Attention in Children with Autism

In this study, the literatures on the joint attention in the children with ASDs were reviewed. The failure to achieve joint attention in children with autism often portends later difficulties with communication and social interaction, as well as delay in language development. Based on the literature review, relationship focused intervention strategies was suggested and parental self-efficacy was one of the mediators that made parents make efforts to improve the quality of relationship between children and parents. By the achievement of joint attention, the relationship between children with autism and their parents will be improved. The enhanced relationship provide parents emotional rewards, ultimately parents’ caretaking stress is expected to be decreased. Ultimately the decrease of caretaking stress of parents of children with ASDs will provide parents emotional rewards.

Parent-Mediated Interventions for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review.

The purpose of this systematic review was to evaluate the evidence for the effectiveness of parent-mediated interventions on occupational performance of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We conducted a search of academic databases using terms such as autism spectrum disorder, parent, caregiver, and intervention. Five hundred eighty-two articles were reviewed, and 109 were selected for full-text review. The final analysis included 13 articles. Strong evidence was found for the efficacy of parent-mediated intervention for increasing child joint attention. Moderate evidence was found for the improvement of language scores, expressive language, nonverbal communication, initiation and response to interaction, behavior, play, adaptive functioning, ASD symptoms, and social communication. This systematic review suggests that parent-mediated interventions for children with ASD can improve various aspects of communication and ASD symptoms, with emerging support for occupational performance. Occupational therapy practitioners are well suited to facilitate these interventions to support families with children with autism.

Establishing a Generalized Repertoire of Initiating Bids for Joint Attention in Children with Autism.

The current study evaluated whether multiple-exemplar training, auditory scripts, and script-fading procedures could establish a generalized repertoire of initiating bids for joint attention in four young children with autism. Stimuli drawn from each of three experimenter-defined categories were used during teaching to program for generalization of initiations of bids for joint attention from trained stimuli to novel stimuli. A fourth category was reserved for assessment of across-category generalization of bids for joint attention. The four categories were (a) visually enticing toys, (b) unusually placed items, (c) environmental sounds, and (d) pictures. Assignment of categories for teaching and assessment of generalization was counterbalanced across the participants. Three different auditory scripts were used during intervention for each of the training stimuli to program for response generalization. All four children learned to initiate bids for joint attention. After scripts were subsequently faded and reinforcement was thinned, bids for joint attention were maintained and also generalized to novel stimuli and settings.

Differences in sensory responses among children with autism spectrum disorder and typical development: Links to joint attention and social competence

AbstractThe current study investigated relations among children's sensory responses, dyadic orienting, joint attention, and their subsequent social competence with peers. Participants were 38 children (18 children with autism spectrum disorder [ASD] and 20 developmentally matched children with typical development) between the ages of 2.75 and 6.5 years. Observational coding was conducted to assess children's joint attention and dyadic orienting in a structured social communication task. Children's sensory responses and social competence were measured with parent report. Group differences were observed in children's joint attention, sensory responses, multisensory dyadic orienting, and social competence, with the ASD group showing significantly greater social impairment and sensory responses compared with their typical peers. Atypical sensory responses were negatively associated with individual differences on social competence subscales. Interaction effects were observed between diagnostic group and sensory responses with diagnostic group moderating the relation between sensory responses and both joint attention and social competence abilities.Highlights We explored patterns of relations between sensory responses, social competence, and joint attention among preschoolers with high functioning autism and typical development. Differential relations were found between sensory responses, social competence, and joint attention for children with autism compared with those with typical development. Individuals with ASD may process sensory stimuli differently compared to individuals with TD.

The impact of robotic intervention on joint attention in children with autism spectrum disorders

BackgroundA growing body of anecdotal evidence indicates that the use of robots may provide unique opportunities for assisting children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). However, previous studies investigating the effects of interventions using robots on joint attention (JA) in children with ASD have shown insufficient results. The robots used in these studies could not turn their eyes, which was a limitation preventing the robot from resembling a human agent.MethodsWe compared the behavior of children with ASD with that of children with typical development (TD) during a JA elicitation task while the children interacted with either a human or a robotic agent. We used the robot “CommU,” which has clear eyes and can turn its eyes, for the robotic intervention. The age range of the participants was limited to 5–6 years.ResultsSixty-eight participants participated in this study, including 30 (10 females and 20 males) children with ASD and 38 (13 females and 25 males) children with TD. The participants were randomly assigned to one of the following two groups: the robotic intervention group or the control group. JA in the children with ASD was better during the robotic intervention than during the human agent intervention. These children exhibited improved performance in the JA task with human after interacting with the robot CommU. JA was differentially facilitated by the human and robotic agents between the ASD and TD children.ConclusionsThe findings of this study significantly contribute to the literature on the impact of robots on JA and provide information regarding the suitability of specific robot types for therapeutic use.

Origins of mother-child reminiscing style.

Maternal elaborative reminiscing supports preschool children's autobiographical memory, self-concept, and emotion understanding. What are the factors contributing to mothers' elaborative style of reminiscing? In a longitudinal community sample (n = 170 at the final data point), this study explored the role of maternal depression (8-44 months), maternal sensitivity and maternal mind-mindedness (8 months), as well as child factors of joint attention (15 months), attachment security (15 months), and language (26 months) for mother-child reminiscing about a positive (happy) and a negative (scared) event at 44 months. Mothers could be classed into two groups of low versus increasing depression from 8 to 44 months, yet maternal depression did not uniquely predict mother-child reminiscing after accounting for maternal sensitivity and other factors. Instead, maternal sensitivity, children's joint attention, and language uniquely predicted children's elaborations about the scared event at 44 months, and maternal sensitivity uniquely predicted mothers' elaborations about the scared event at 44 months. Mothers who are more sensitive in early interactions may later be better at engaging their children when reminiscing about negative emotions. These findings have implications for the design of interventions targeted at supporting mothers to engage in elaborative reminiscing with their preschool children.

Relação entre a matriz linguística multimodal e a atenção conjunta de criança com síndrome de Down

A síndrome de Down (SD) é uma condição genética resultante da presença extra de um cromossomo 21, que pode gerar diversos problemas de saúde, como cardiopatias, e atraso no desenvolvimento da linguagem. As crianças com a síndrome apresentam mais déficits na linguagem expressiva, enquanto a sua compreensão e comunicação gestual é mais desenvolvida. Nesse sentido, este estudo objetivou analisar a relação entre as produções linguísticas e a atenção conjunta de uma criança com síndrome de Down em processo de intervenção fonoaudiológica. Trabalhou-se com a hipótese de que as produções linguísticas e a atenção conjunta se desenvolvem mutuamente. Para isso, foram realizadas filmagens semanais, durante um ano de atendimento fonoaudiológico de um menino com SD que possuía 16 meses no início da coleta e apresentava uma cardiopatia congênita. Posteriormente, os vídeos foram analisados no programa ELAN, a fim de descrever quantitativamente as produções vocais e gestuais, e a atenção conjunta da criança. Constatou-se que a intervenção fonoaudiológica favoreceu o desenvolvimento da linguagem da criança com síndrome de Down, principalmente das produções vocais (p=0,04), e que houve um crescimento conjunto entre as produções gestuais (p=0,001) e a atenção conjunta da criança. Desse modo, com o atraso no desenvolvimento da linguagem verbal, as produções gestuais da criança com SD favoreceram sua inserção em cenas de atenção conjunta.

Increasing Joint Attention in Children with Autism and Their Peers.

Joint attention (JA) and peer interactions are significantly impaired in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Empirically demonstrated interventions exist to address JA with adults, but few with peers. Training peers through instructions, modeling (both live and video models), role play, and feedback may help facilitate JA in children with ASD. We examined the effects of peer training with live and video models on typically developing (TD) peer strategies to facilitate JA and JA behavior in children with ASD. TD peers showed some improvement in prompting and reinforcing JA. Children with ASD showed overall increases in JA with trained and novel peers that were also observed by parents, professionals, and peers. Findings are discussed with respect to variables to consider when teaching JA to children with ASD and their peers as well as the need to further examine the relationship between peer training and JA in children with autism.

Quantifying patterns of joint attention during human-robot interactions: An application for autism spectrum disorder assessment

In this paper we explore the dynamics of Joint Attention (JA) in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) during an interaction task with a small humanoid robot. While this robot elicits JA in children, a coupled perception system based on RGB-D sensors is able to capture their behaviours. The proposed system shows the feasibility and the practical benefits of the use of social robots as assessment tools of ASD. We propose a set of measures to describe the behaviour of the children in terms of body and head movements, gazing magnitude, gazing directions (left vs. front vs. right) and kinetic energies. We assessed these metrics by comparing 42 children with ASD and 16 children with typical development (TD) during the JA task with the robot, highlighting significant differences between the two groups. Employing the same metrics, we also assess a subgroup of 14 children with ASD after 6-month of JA training with a serious game. The longitudinal data confirms the relevance of the proposed metrics as they reveal the improvements of children behaviours after several months of training.

IMPACT OF JOINT ATTENTION ON SOCIAL-COMMUNICATION SKILLS IN INTERNATIONALLY ADOPTED CHILDREN.

Internationally adopted (IA) children have often experienced early adversity and are at risk for long-term deficiencies in multiple developmental domains. This study examined the association between IA children's joint attention (JA) soon after arrival and later cognitive, communicative, and socioemotional competency 6 months' postadoption. We expected a child's initial JA would positively predict later cognitive, communication, and social ability. IA children (n = 63) adopted from Eastern Europe were seen soon after their arrival into the United States to assess their JA. Their socioemotional competency, social communication, and cognitive abilities were measured at a follow-up session 6 months' postadoption. We found that higher order JA was positively associated with measures of social relatedness. Furthermore, individual hierarchical regressions of each measure of JA (higher order JA, initiating JA, responding to JA, and initiating behavior requests [BR]) considered with age-at-adoption showed that each measure was an independent and positive predictor of Mullen outcomes in the receptive and expressive language domains. These results suggest that JA may be a sensitive predictor of subsequent functioning in the social, communicative, and cognitive domains. Thus, assessing JA soon after arrival has the potential to identify at-risk IA children, and interventions targeting JA may support those children in overcoming the negative impacts of early adversity.

Comparative study of two different weighted vests and its effect on joint attention in children with Autism spectrum disorder

Comparative study of two different weighted vests and its effect on joint attention in children with Autism spectrum disorder

Comparative study of two different weighted vests and its effect on joint attention in children with Autism spectrum disorder.

Comparative study of two different weighted vests and its effect on joint attention in children with Autism spectrum disorder.

Validation of the Pictorial Infant Communication Scale for preschool-aged children with autism spectrum disorder.

Joint attention, or the shared focus of attention between objects or events and a social partner, is a crucial milestone in the development of social communication and a notable area of deficit in children with autism spectrum disorder. While valid parent-report screening measures of social communication are available, the majority of these measures are designed to assess a wide range of behaviors. Targeted assessment of joint attention and related skills is primarily limited to semi-structured, examiner-led interactions, which are time-consuming and laborious to score. The Pictorial Infant Communication Scale is an efficient parent-report measure of joint attention that can be used as a complement to structured assessments in fully characterizing early social communication development. This study examined the psychometric properties of the Pictorial Infant Communication Scale. Results revealed a high degree of internal consistency and strong intercorrelations between subscales. Additionally, confirmatory factor analysis supported a three-factor model of joint attention. Furthermore, significant correlations between the Pictorial Infant Communication Scale and direct clinical measures of child joint attention, language skills, and autism spectrum disorder symptom severity were suggestive of concurrent validity. Findings suggest that the Pictorial Infant Communication Scale is a promising tool for measuring joint attention skills in preschool-aged children with autism spectrum disorder.

Analysing change in music therapy interactions of children with communication difficulties.

Music therapy has been found to improve communicative behaviours and joint attention in children with autism, but it is unclear what in the music therapy sessions drives those changes. We developed an annotation protocol and tools to accumulate large datasets of music therapy, for analysis of interaction dynamics. Analysis of video recordings of improvisational music therapy sessions focused on simple, unambiguous individual and shared behaviours: movement and facing behaviours, rhythmic activity and musical structures and the relationships between them. To test the feasibility of the protocol, early and late sessions of five client–therapist pairs were annotated and analysed to track changes in behaviours. To assess the reliability and validity of the protocol, inter-rater reliability of the annotation tiers was calculated, and the therapists provided feedback about the relevance of the analyses and results. This small-scale study suggests that there are both similarities and differences in the profiles of client–therapist sessions. For example, all therapists faced the clients most of the time, while the clients did not face back so often. Conversely, only two pairs had an increase in regular pulse from early to late sessions. More broadly, similarity across pairs at a general level is complemented by variation in the details. This perhaps goes some way to reconciling client- and context-specificity on one hand and generalizability on the other. Behavioural characteristics seem to influence each other. For instance, shared rhythmic pulse alternated with mutual facing and the occurrence of shared pulse was found to relate to the musical structure. These observations point towards a framework for looking at change in music therapy that focuses on networks of variables or broader categories. The results suggest that even when starting with simple behaviours, we can trace aspects of interaction and change in music therapy, which are seen as relevant by therapists.

A Review of Behavior Interventions for Joint Attention in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

자폐스펙트럼장애(Autism Spectrum Disorder)의 가장 큰 특징 중 하나는 사회적 상호작용을 위한 핵심기술인 공동주의 능력의 심각한 결함이다. 본 연구에서는 행동주의적 기법을 사용하여 자폐스펙트럼장애 아동의 공동주의 행동에 직접적으로 개입하였던 문헌 27개를 분석하여, 1) 행동주의 교수전략이 공동주의 능력의 향상에 효과적인지를 알아보고, 2) 공동주의 능력을 공동주의에 대한 반응과 공동주의 개시로 나누어서 각 영역에 효과적인 교수법이 무엇인지 살펴보았다. 본 문헌고찰 연구의 결과는 자폐스펙트럼장애에 특징적인 교수법의 사용이 공동주의 능력의 증진에 효과적임을 보여준다. 공동주의에 대한 반응의 경우, 고찰에 포함된 94%의 논문이 행동주의 교수전략이 개입에 효과적임을 보고하였으며, 특히 자폐스펙트럼장애에 특정적인 교수법의 사용 여부에 무관하게 개입의 효과를 확인할 수 있어 행동주의적 기법만으로도 공동주의에 대한 반응이 증진하는 것으로 나타났다. 반면, 공동주의 개시의 경우, 68%의 문헌만이 개입이 효과적임을 보고해 공동주의에 대한 반응에 비해 상대적으로 개입이 어려운 것으로 나타났는데, DTT와 자연주의적 개입을 함께 사용한 Kasari, Freeman, 그리고 Paparella(2006)의 전략이 그 중 가장 효과적인 것으로 나타났다. 이 결과는 공동주의의 개시가 공동주의에 대한 반응에 비해서 보다 집중적이고 체계적인 훈련이 필요하며, 각 영역에 맞는 접근법을 취했을 때 더욱 효과적인 개입이 이루어질 수 있음을 시사한다.

Look into my eyes: Investigating joint attention using interactive eye-tracking and fMRI in a developmental sample

Joint attention, the shared attentional focus of at least two people on a third significant object, is one of the earliest steps in social development and an essential aspect of reciprocal interaction. However, the neural basis of joint attention (JA) in the course of development is completely unknown. The present study made use of an interactive eye-tracking paradigm in order to examine the developmental trajectories of JA and the influence of a familiar interaction partner during the social encounter. Our results show that across children and adolescents JA elicits a similar network of “social brain” areas as well as attention and motor control associated areas as in adults. While other-initiated JA particularly recruited visual, attention and social processing areas, self-initiated JA specifically activated areas related to social cognition, decision-making, emotions and motivational/reward processes highlighting the rewarding character of self-initiated JA. Activation was further enhanced during self-initiated JA with a familiar interaction partner. With respect to developmental effects, activation of the precuneus declined from childhood to adolescence and additionally shifted from a general involvement in JA towards a more specific involvement for self-initiated JA. Similarly, the temporoparietal junction (TPJ) was broadly involved in JA in children and more specialized for self-initiated JA in adolescents. Taken together, this study provides first-time data on the developmental trajectories of JA and the effect of a familiar interaction partner incorporating the interactive character of JA, its reciprocity and motivational aspects.

Relationships between Defects of Related Ability and Joint Attention of Children with Autism

Relationships between Defects of Related Ability and Joint Attention of Children with Autism

The Effect of Prompts within Embedded Circumscribed Interests to Teach Initiating Joint Attention in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Joint attention occurs when two people engage in eye contact, verbalizations, or gestures between each other and a common object for the purpose of social interaction. Interventions which embedded participant’s circumscribed interests (i.e., specific topics or themes of abnormal intensity) in materials found increases in joint attention without direct intervention. Previous joint attention intervention successfully taught three children with autism to respond to others’ joint attention directives using interventions with circumscribed interest-related materials. However, initiating joint attention and generalization across materials and settings were not addressed. The current study investigated the effectiveness of prompt fading and reinforcement while engaging in circumscribed interest-related activities on initiating joint attention for three children with autism. All children acquired joint attention initiations; however, only two did so while engaging with circumscribed interest-related materials. Participants demonstrated variable generalization across activities, partners, and settings. Parents reported declines in circumscribed interest-related social interference from pre- to post-intervention. Results suggest teaching joint attention initiations using circumscribed interest-related materials to teach joint attention initiations may be an effective strategy for some children with autism. Future research implications are discussed.

The effect of Kodály-based music experiences on joint attention in children with autism spectrum disorders

Abstract Background: Kodály approach is one of widely used methods in music education and music therapy. The method is based on singing activities that could facilitate young children’s social development. Thus, the application of Kodály approach may be appropriate to enhance the joint attention behaviors of children with autism. Objective: We examined the joint attention of individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) during Kodály-based music experiences. Methods: The A-B-C-B single-case design was employed to investigate the effectiveness of Kodály-based music experiences on joint attention behaviors of three children, ranging from 7.8 to 11.5 years of age, with autism who had manifested joint attention problems. The experimental sessions consisted of baseline condition (A), group intervention (B), and individual invention session (C). The SCERTS assessment process (SAP) was used to measure joint attention behaviors. The findings were presented using visual inspection. Results: During baseline sessions, the three participants rarely engaged in joint attention with others. Their behaviors were stable during the first three sessions, with mean occurrence of 5, 9.3, and 4. In the course of the music intervention, they positively responded to the intervention. The frequencies of their behaviors continuously increased from the first group intervention sessions until the second group intervention sessions. Finally, the second group intervention sessions showed that most of the data points were above the mean of all previous sessions, with mean occurrence of 43.8, 34.1, and 18.8. Conclusion: The Kodály approach was found one of useful methods in music education that can apply to music therapy to enhance joint attention behaviors of the children with autism. The children were able to learn how to engage in a group setting through singing activities, folk music, and solfège learning.

Does video training increase adult and child joint attention and improve child outcomes? Two individual case studies in children with autism spectrum disorder

Background Children with autism spectrum disorder experience difficulty initiating (IJA) and responding to joint attention (RJA), which is critical to engagement in social interactions. The adult role in developing joint attention is widely accepted, but measurement of outcomes from adult training is rarely reported.Method Using a single case study design, this pilot study examined the joint attention of 1 adult and 2 children before and after the adult was trained using video feedback, to recognise joint attention opportunities and strategies to increase children's joint attention.Results There was a statistically significant increase in adult IJA and a corresponding increase in the children's RJA. Adult RJA increased minimally in response to minimal increase in the children's IJA. Visible increases in adult–child engagement occurred, but the activity chosen, documentation requirements, and one training session also influenced outcomes.Conclusions This study provides preliminary evidence that video training does increase adult joint attention attempts and improves social interaction and engagement in activities. Other factors affecting adult and child joint attention frequency are also identified.