Toddlers with autism don't avoid eye contact, but do miss its significance

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-11/ehs-twa111816.php

Public Release: 18-Nov-2016
Toddlers with autism don't avoid eye contact, but do miss its significance
Study helps resolve question: Aversion vs. lack of social cues?
Emory Health Sciences

A new study conducted by researchers at Marcus Autism Center, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, and Emory University School of Medicine helps put to rest a longstanding controversy and question about children with autism spectrum disorder.

Eye-tracking measures developed by the group demonstrate that young children with autism do not avoid eye contact on purpose; instead, they miss the significance of social information in others' eyes.

While reduced eye contact is a well-known symptom of autism used in early screeners and diagnostic instruments, why children with autism look less at other people's eyes has not been known. New research, reported in the American Journal of Psychiatry, helps answer that question.

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