Multiple deictic cues allow ASD children to direct their visual attention
Résumé
The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of the deictic cue used to initiate joint visual attention behaviour. This eye-tracking study involves children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) whose developmental level, specifically in terms of communication skills, was below their chronological age. They were therefore matched with two groups of typical children, in chronological and developmental age. The video stimulus depicted an actress who used different deictic cues, in combination or not, to attract children's visual attention, i.e., glances alone; glances and verbalisations; or glances together with pointing and verbalisations. The data were analysed using a post hoc visual area of interest methodology. In the various conditions, ASD children paid less attention to the actress' face, but more to the background, compared to typical children. Visual exploration differs, which may explain why ASD children follow deictic cues less than the control groups. The combination of gaze cues and verbalisations was the least relevant for ASD children followed by deictic gaze cues with eye and/or head orientation. In contrast, adding pointing to gaze direction and verbalisations resulted in more responses to the initiation of joint attention. Our results suggest the importance of using multiple cues in combination to help ASD children acquire this language prerequisite and to better understand directionality in interaction. These results provide new ideas to adjust early remediation programs for ASD children.