Research-Based Suggestions for Teaching Joint Attention to Children with ASD
Joint attention is “the development of specific skills that involve sharing attention with others through pointing, showing, and coordinating looks between objects and people, as well as the development of attention states that involve mutually sustained joint engagement with others.”1
Children with autism often have trouble with joint attention. They may not respond to people around them and seem aloof. This can become harmful when this lack of interaction leads to a delay in language and learning. The lack of joint attention causes this delay as children learn to communicate verbally and nonverbally by watching and interacting with others.
Past Studies and Implications
Studies looking at joint attention interventions were successful up to the point of generalization of the skills into everyday life. The environment where the children were taught was not in a natural context, making it difficult for the children to generalize those skills into daily interactions. These studies showed that a parent-training or parent-education component on top of therapy, either in a clinical or preschool setting, is crucial for teaching joint attention to young children with ASD.
Current Study and Implications
The current study focused “on the development of play routines in which the adult could follow in on the child’s interests, maintain and then expand upon their play activities. These expansions encourage longer “topics” in which children had more opportunities to communicate.”2
One of the determining factors of whether this intervention was effective was the parent’s engagement in the treatment plan. If the parent kept to the program with the daily implementation of the learned techniques, the child would be more successful in increasing joint attention skills.
However, the study also found that it is still challenging to develop these skills when treatment is administered only through the parents. Since the earlier studies mainly administered by the therapists did show progress, it may mean that a combination of therapists and parent-mediated treatment is the right combination for treating joint attention skills in young children with ASD.
Key Takeaways
Joint attention is an essential skill for children as it is a critical component of learning and developing verbal and nonverbal communication. Children with autism commonly have a problem with joint attention, which contributes to why a child with autism may have a speech delay. It is essential to administer both therapy in school or the clinic and encourage parent education and a home treatment plan for the child to learn critical joint attention skills.
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1. Kasari et al., 1045.
2. Kasari et al., 1047.
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Kasari, Connie et al., “Randomized Controlled Caregiver Mediated Joint Engagement Intervention for Toddlers with Autism,” J Autism Dev Disord. 40, no. 9 (2010): 1045-1056. DOI 10.1007/s10803-010-0955-5