Autistic Children Quickly Orient Away from Both Eyes and Mouths During Face Observation

Overview

Journal J Autism Dev Disord

Publisher Springer

Date 2022 Feb 9

PMID 35138557

Authors

Lilja Kristin Jonsdottir

Janina Neufeld

Terje Falck-Ytter

Johan Lundin Kleberg

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Studies have supported two different hypotheses of reduced eye gaze in people with ASD; gaze avoidance and gaze indifference, while less is known about the role of anxiety. We tested these hypotheses using an eye-tracking paradigm that cued the eyes or mouth of emotional faces. Autistic children (n = 12, mean age 7 years) looked faster away from both eyes and mouths than controls (n = 22). This effect was not explained by anxiety symptoms. No difference was found in latency towards either area. These results indicate that attentional avoidance of autistic children is not specific to eyes, and that they do not show attentional indifference to eyes compared to controls. Atypicalities in visual scanning in ASD are possibly unrelated to specific facial areas.

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