title: Gaze response to dyadic bids at 2 years related to outcomes at 3 years in autism spectrum disorders: a subtyping analysis.
abstract: Variability in attention towards direct gaze and child-directed speech may contribute to heterogeneity of clinical presentation in toddlers with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). To evaluate this hypothesis, we clustered sixty-five 20-month-old toddlers with ASD based on their visual responses to dyadic cues for engagement, identifying three subgroups. Subsequently, we compared social, language, and adaptive functioning of these subgroups at 3 years of age. The cluster displaying limited attention to social scenes in general exhibited poor outcome at 3 years; the cluster displaying good attention to the scene and to the speaker's mouth was verbal and high functioning at 3 years. Analysis of visual responses to dyadic cues may provide a clinically meaningful approach to identifying early predictors of outcome.
authors.affiliation: Yale Child Study Center, Yale University School of Medicine, 40 Temple St, Suite 7D, New Haven, CT, 06510, USA.
authors.forename: Daniel J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Campbell
authors.forename: Frederick
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Shic
authors.forename: Suzanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Macari
authors.forename: Katarzyna
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Chawarska
mesh_terms: D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D001321:Autistic Disorder; D002659:Child Development Disorders, Pervasive / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003463:Cues; D005133:Eye Movements; D005145:Face; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male