How to Recognize Joint Attention Problems

With the alarming increase in autism spectrum disorders in the last few years, many parents wonder what the early symptoms of autism are. Joint attention is an early social communication skill that appears to be affected in many children with autism. Now that physicians recommend two autism screenings by the time a child is two years old, parents need to know more about this aspect of child development. Read on to learn more about this developmental milestone and how it is affected in autism.

Instructions

• 1

  Look for pointing. By about 12 months of age, most children will begin pointing or gesturing toward objects of interest. Pointing becomes a way of letting you know they need something before they have the words to tell you directly. They may start by simply reaching for objects they want, then work their way up to more precise pointing.

• 2

  Look for showing. Showing is more sophisticated than pointing. Showing adds the social piece to the communication, because the child is expressing interest in an object and hopes you will be interested, too. Often children with autism spectrum disorders will point to get objects they want, but they lack the social skills to share their interests with others. Therefore, this symptom can be more important to the autism diagnosis than simple “request “pointing.

• 3

  Look for looking. Possibly the most sophisticated aspect of joint attention involves the child's use of eye contact along with gestures to communicate with others. While poor eye contact is often considered an autism symptom, not all autistic children fail to look at you. Therefore, the more important clue is the child’s ability to use eye contact to interact socially. In joint attention, the child looks at you, notices that you are looking at something interesting and then follows your gaze to that object. In other words, the eye contact between the two of you becomes its own type of communication. Deficits in these nonverbal social skills may be an early autism symptom.

• 4

  Look to your doctor. By about 12 months of age, most typically developing children show joint attention. If your child is not gesturing to communicate interest, showing you objects he finds interesting, or tracking your gaze to objects you are looking at with interest, then you need to talk with your doctor. While these problems don't guarantee an autism diagnosis, we do know that joint attention deficits are often present in children later diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders. Earlier identification of problems means earlier intervention, improving the chances of a better outcome regardless of the diagnosis.