How does social attention develop in autistic children?

A team from the University of Geneva shows how visual social skills develop in a unique way in children with autistic disorders. As they grow, children increasingly focus their attention on social elements in their environment, such as faces or social interactions. However, children with autism are often more interested in non-social stimuli, such as textures or geometric shapes. By tracking where children look while viewing a cartoon, a team from the University of Geneva has revealed that attention in autistic children does not follow the same developmental trajectory as that of typically developing children. Instead, they each gradually develop their own unique attentional preferences. These results, published in eLife , argue in favour of early interventions aimed at enhancing social attention, which could help guide autistic children onto developmental courses more akin to their peers, paving the way for tailored, individualized support. Right from birth, babies are endowed with innate abilities that are crucial for their survival and adaptation.