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Prelinguistic Communication and Joint Attention

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Prelinguistic and Minimally Verbal Communicators on the Autism Spectrum

Abstract

This chapter reviews prelinguistic communication and joint attention in infants with typical development and in individuals with autism spectrum disorder who have minimal verbal skills. Joint attention is described as triadic coordination or sharing between self, communication partner, and an object or event. From early on, infants show developmental progression in joint attention abilities. Joint attention in infancy can be classified into two types, depending on if infants are responding to others’ joint attention bids (by following another person’s eye gaze and/or points) or spontaneously initiating joint attention overtures with others (by producing triadic gaze shift, pointing and/or showing gestures). By 13 months of age, young children with typical development enter into sustained episodes of coordinated joint engagement. Individuals with autism spectrum disorder have differences in both joint attention and sustained joint engagement. Joint attention abilities relate to concurrent and later language development in individuals with autism spectrum disorder. Teaching joint attention, symbolic play, and imitation may affect other areas of development. Clinical implications for promoting joint attention in individuals with or at risk for autism spectrum disorder are discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, Saint Louis University, Saint Louis, MO, USA

    Barbara Braddock

  2. Department of Speech Language Hearing Sciences and Disorders, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA

    Nancy C. Brady

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  1. Barbara Braddock
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  2. Nancy C. Brady
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Correspondence to Barbara Braddock .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Schl of Educational and Profess Studies, Griffith University, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

    Deb Keen

  2. Department of Special Education, University of Illinois, Champaign, Illinois, USA

    Hedda Meadan

  3. University of Kansas, Department of Speech Language Hearing Sc, Lawrence, Kansas, USA

    Nancy C. Brady

  4. Department of Special Education, University of Illinois, Champaign, Illinois, USA

    James W. Halle

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Braddock, B., Brady, N.C. (2016). Prelinguistic Communication and Joint Attention. In: Keen, D., Meadan, H., Brady, N., Halle, J. (eds) Prelinguistic and Minimally Verbal Communicators on the Autism Spectrum. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-0713-2_3

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