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

Social and joint attention during shared book reading in young autistic children: a potential marker for social development

BACKGROUND

Atypical patterns of social engagement and joint attention behaviors are diagnostic criteria for people with autism spectrum disorder. Experimental tasks using eye-tracking methodologies have, however, shown inconsistent results. The development of tasks with greater ecological validity and relevance for developmentally appropriate social milestones has been identified as important for the field.

METHODS

We developed a novel, dynamic eye-tracking task emulating a shared book reading (SBR) scenario. Four SBR videos of an adult reader engaging with the viewer while reading a children's picture book and including sequenced bids for joint attention were developed. Participants included 90 children (N = 56 autistic children, N = 34 neurotypical children; aged 3-12). Social attention was also measured in a live free play task between participants and an experimenter.

RESULTS

Compared to neurotypical children, autistic children displayed reduced attention to socially salient stimuli including the reader's face and picture book across SBR videos and during joint attention bids specifically. In contrast, they showed increased attention to nonsalient background stimuli compared to their neurotypical peers. These attention patterns in autistic children were associated with reduced verbal and nonverbal cognitive skills and increased symptoms associated with autism. Interestingly, positive correlations in the frequency of eye gaze between SBR and free play suggested a potential predictive value for social attention in live social interactions.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings highlight the utility of SBR eye-tracking tasks in understanding underlying divergences in social engagement and joint attention between autistic and neurotypical children. This commonly practiced early childhood activity may provide insights into the relationship between social engagement and learning to reveal how such attentional patterns might influence broader developmental and educational outcomes.

Assessment of Sensory Processing Issues in Children with Neurodevelopmental Disorders and Experiences of Maltreatment

This study aims to identify the sensory characteristics of children with both developmental disabilities such as ASD and ADHD and a history of child maltreatment (DM group), children with developmental disabilities (DD group), and typically developed children (TD group). The sensory characteristics of 24 children were assessed through virtual reality and self-administered questionnaires. The results elucidated that the duration of gazing at the "teacher" (60-75 s) was significantly different with the DM group's gaze being shorter than the DD group's gaze (p = 0.042). The duration of the "others" gaze (45-60 s) was also significantly different with the DM group's gaze being longer than the DD and TD groups' gaze (p = 0.018; p = 0.030). Additionally, the scores for tactile sensitivity, taste/smell sensitivity, under-responsive/seeks sensation, and the total short-term sensory profile were significantly different between the DM-DD and DD-TD groups. The scores of the heart rate perception test and Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness were significantly lower in the DM and DD groups. In conclusion, children who have experienced trauma and developmental disabilities may have different sensory characteristics than children with only developmental disabilities or none, implying the need for further research and tailored care.

Attention Measurement of an Autism Spectrum Disorder User Using EEG Signals: A Case Study

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental life condition characterized by problems with social interaction, low verbal and non-verbal communication skills, and repetitive and restricted behavior. People with ASD usually have variable attention levels because they have hypersensitivity and large amounts of environmental information are a problem for them. Attention is a process that occurs at the cognitive level and allows us to orient ourselves towards relevant stimuli, ignoring those that are not, and act accordingly. This paper presents a methodology based on electroencephalographic (EEG) signals for attention measurement in a 13-year-old boy diagnosed with ASD. The EEG signals are acquired with an Epoc+ Brain–Computer Interface (BCI) via the Emotiv Pro platform while developing several learning activities and using Matlab 2019a for signal processing. For this article, we propose to use electrodes F3, F4, P7, and P8. Then, we calculate the band power spectrum density to detect the Theta Relative Power (TRP), Alpha Relative Power (ARP), Beta Relative Power (BRP), Theta–Beta Ratio (TBR), Theta–Alpha Ratio (TAR), and Theta/(Alpha+Beta), which are features related to attention detection and neurofeedback. We train and evaluate several machine learning (ML) models with these features. In this study, the multi-layer perceptron neural network model (MLP-NN) has the best performance, with an AUC of 0.9299, Cohen’s Kappa coefficient of 0.8597, Matthews correlation coefficient of 0.8602, and Hamming loss of 0.0701. These findings make it possible to develop better learning scenarios according to the person’s needs with ASD. Moreover, it makes it possible to obtain quantifiable information on their progress to reinforce the perception of the teacher or therapist.

A Preliminary Study of Assessing Gaze, Interoception and School Performance among Children with Neurodevelopmental Disorders: The Feasibility of VR Classroom

Children with developmental disabilities (DDs) have sensory modulation disorders that interrelate school performance. Virtual reality (VR) has demonstrated the potential to become a neuropsychological assessment modality. This study was conducted to explore the feasibility of the VR classroom for assessing their characteristics of gaze, school performance, and interoception. School-aged children were assigned to the DD group or control group. A VR classroom was designed to evaluate their gaze patterns to distracting events. Interoception was assessed using the Heart Rate Perception test and the Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness (MAIA). The DD group had a significantly longer gaze duration on the virtual teacher during 30–45 s of the VR classroom event (p < 0.05). The mean score of the quiz and the Heart Rate Perception test showed a significant tendency to be lower than the children of the control group. The DD group scored significantly lower in six of eight subscales of the MAIA. These results showed the potential of VR classroom to evaluate the difference of sensory modulation between school-aged children with DDs and typically developed children. Future research is necessary to investigate the validity of the VR environment used in this study.