Toddlers’ attention to ‘motherese’ may give clues to autism
An eye-tracking test of toddlers could be an accurate screening test, research suggests
Nearly all toddlers who displayed little interest in ‘motherese’ were later confirmed to have autism, a study reveals.
Researchers showed kids between 12 and 48 months of age split-screen moving images, then used eye tracking to evaluate their attention.
Some toddlers who paid closer attention to scenes without people rather than to someone saying playful phrases a mother might use were later diagnosed with autism with 94% accuracy.
“Autism can be accurately diagnosed in a subset of children using new eye-tracking technology in just a few minutes,” said lead researcher Professor Dr Karen Pierce (PhD), co-director of the University of California, San Diego Autism Center of Excellence.
