The Effects of Storytelling With or Without Social Contextual Information Regarding Eye Gaze and Visual Attention in Children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder and Typical Development: A Randomized, Controlled Eye-Tracking Study

J Autism Dev Disord. 2022 Mar;52(3):1257-1267. doi: 10.1007/s10803-021-05012-w. Epub 2021 Apr 28.

Abstract

This study examined the effects of storytelling with or without contextual information on children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and typical development (TD) using eye-tracker. They were randomized into two groups-the stories included and did not include social contextual information respectively. Training was delivered in groups, with eight sessions across four weeks, 30 min/session. Participants' fixation duration, visit duration, and fixation count on human faces from 20 photos and a video were recorded. Our findings revealed that storytelling with social contextual information enhanced participants' eye gazes on eyes/ faces in static information (photos) for both children with ASD and TD, but the same advantage could not be seen for children with ASD in regard to dynamic information (videos).Clinical Trial Registration Number (URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov ): NCT04587557.

Keywords: Autism spectrum disorder; Eye tracking; Occupational therapy; Social contextual information; Storytelling.

Publication types

  • Randomized Controlled Trial

MeSH terms

  • Autism Spectrum Disorder*
  • Child
  • Communication
  • Eye-Tracking Technology
  • Fixation, Ocular*
  • Humans
  • Research Design

Associated data

  • ClinicalTrials.gov/NCT04587557