Joint attention - Autilius

What do we teach?

While playing our games, children practise skills that are essential for initiating and responding to joint attention. Dysfunctions in the development of these abilities are among the first detectable symptoms of autism spectrum disorders. While using Autilius games, children practise the following skills:

gaze following
understanding head turning
understanding the pointing gesture
initiating joint attention

What is joint attention?

Focusing attention on the same object by two or more people and being aware of each other`s focus is called joint attention. The graph below shows how the joint attention is created. Gaze direction almost always indicates the object of our attention. When we look at something, we often turn our head in its direction or point at it. Therefore, the ability to follow the gaze of another person, to understand head turns and pointing gestures is crucial for recognizing which objects or events are attended to.

A growing body of scientific research demonstrates the effectiveness of training the abillities of initiating and responding to joint attention in children with autism spectrum disorders.Focusing the child`s attention on pointing gestures and gaze direction is the first step in the development of vital social skills.

As has been shown, these skills are not only successfully practised in therapy, but they are also used in non-therapeutic settings. Furthermore, joint attention training may be beneficial for children`s language development.

During activities children also practise:

understanding facial expressions depicting emotions

focusing attention

making choices

waiting for their turn

Our games can be played with motion control interface,

which additionaly trains:

eye-hand coordination

self-body awareness

gross motor skills