Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Collateral Effects of Joint Attention Training on Social Initiations, Positive Affect, Imitation, and Spontaneous Speech for Young Children with Autism

  • ORIGINAL PAPER
  • Published:
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Joint attention may be a core deficit in autism which underlies the abnormal development of later emerging social-communication behaviors. Given this theory, researchers have suggested that teaching young children with autism to engage in joint attention may lead to collateral increases in other non-targeted social-communication behaviors. In this study, children with autism participated in a 10-week joint attention training program and collateral changes in non-targeted behaviors were assessed. Following participation in the intervention, positive collateral changes were observed in social initiations, positive affect, imitation, play, and spontaneous speech. Results support the hypothesis that teaching joint attention skills leads to improvement in a variety of related skills and have implications for the treatment of young children with autism.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adamson, L., & McArthur, D. (1995). Joint attention, affect, and culture. In C. Moore, & P. Dunham (Eds.), Joint attention: Its origins and role in development (pp. 205–221). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baron-Cohen, S. (1987). Autism and symbolic play. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 5, 139–148.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baron-Cohen, S. (1995). Mindblindness: An essay on autism and theory of mind. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bates, E., Benigni, L., Bretherton, I., Camaioni, L., & Volterra, V. (1979). The emergence of symbols: Cognition and communication in infancy. New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bayley, N. (1993). Bayley infant scales of development (2nd ed.). San Antonio, TX: Harcourt Brace & Co.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bieberich, A. A., & Morgan, S. B. (1998). Affective expression in children with autism or Down syndrome. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 4, 333–338.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bruner, J. (1974). The ontogenesis of speech acts. Journal of Child Language, 2, 1–19.

    Google Scholar 

  • Charman, T., Swettenham, J., Baron-Cohen, S., Cox, A., Baird, G., & Drew, A. (1997). Infants with autism: An investigation of empathy, pretend play, joint attention, and imitation. Developmental Psychology, 33, 781–789.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fenson, L., Dale, P. S., Reznick, J. S., Thal, D., Bates, E., Hartung, J. P., Pethick, S., & Reilly, J. S. (1993). MacArthur communicative development inventories. San Diego, CA: Singular Publishing Group, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilliam, J. E. (1995). Gilliam autism rating scale. Austin, TX: Pro-Ed.

    Google Scholar 

  • Joseph, R. M., & Tager-Flusberg, H. (1997). An investigation of attention and affect in children with autism and Down syndrome. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 4, 385–396.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kamps, D. M., Leonard, B. R., Versnon, S., Dugan, E. P., Delquadri, J. C., Gershon, B., Wade, L., & Folk, L. (1992). Teaching social skills to students with autism to increase peer interactions in an integrated first-grade classroom. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 25(2), 281–288.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kanner, L. (1943). Autistic disturbances of affective content. The Nervous Child, 2, 217–250.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kasari, C., Freeman, S., & Paparella, T. (2001). Early intervention in autism: Joint attention and symbolic play. In L. M. Glidden (Ed.), International review of research on mental retardation. New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kasari, C., Sigman, M., Mundy, P., & Yirmiya, N. (1990). Affective sharing in the context of joint attention interactions of normal, autistic, and mentally retarded children. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 20, 87–99.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kazdin, A. E. (1973). Methodological and assessment considerations in evaluating reinforcement programs in applied settings. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 6, 517–531.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Koegel, R. L., Koegel, K. L., & Schreibman, L. (1991). Assessing and training parents in teaching pivotal behaviors. In R. J. Prinz (Ed.), Advances in behavioral assessment of children and families (pp. 65–82). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Koegel, R. L., O’Dell, M. C., & Koegel, L. K. (1987). A natural language teaching paradigm for nonverbal autistic children. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 17, 187–200.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Koegel, R. L., Schreibman, L., Good, A., Cerniglia, L., Murphy, C., & Koegel, L. (1989). Howto teach pivotal behaviors to children with autism: A training manual. Santa Barbara: University of California.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewy, A., & Dawson, G. (1992). Social stimulation and joint attention in young autisticchildren. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 20, 555–566.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lovaas, O. I. (1987). Behavioral treatment and normal educational and intellectual functioning in young autistic children. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 55, 3–9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Loveland, K., & Landry, S. (1986). Joint attention and language in autism and developmental language delay. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 16, 335–349.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Maurice, C., Green, G., & Luce, S. C. (Eds.). (1996). Behavioral intervention for young children with autism: A manual for parents and professionals. Austin, TX, US: PRO-ED, Inc.

  • Meltzoff, A. N., & Moore, M. (1994). Imitation, memory, and the representation of persons. Infant Behavior and Development, 17, 83–99.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mundy, P. (1995). Joint attention and social-emotional approach behavior in children with autism. Development and Psychopathology, 7, 63–82.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mundy, P., & Crowson, M. (1997). Joint attention and early social communication: Implications for research on intervention with autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 27, 653–676.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mundy, P., & Gomes, A. (1998). Individual differences in joint attention skill development in the second year. Infant Behavior and Development, 21, 469–482.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mundy, P., & Hogan, A. (1994). Intersubjectivity, joint attention, and autistic developmental pathology. In D. Cicchetti, & S. L. Toth (Eds.), Disorders and dysfunctions of the self. Rochester symposium on developmental psychopathology (Vol. 5, pp. 1–30). Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press.

  • Mundy, P., & Sigman, M. (1989). The theoretical implications of joint attention deficits in autism. Development and Psychopathology, 7, 63–82.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mundy, P., Sigman, M., & Kasari, C. (1990). A longitudinal study of joint attention and language development in autistic children. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 20, 115–128.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mundy, P., Sigman, M., Ungerer, J., & Sherman, T. (1996). Defining the social deficits of autism: The contribution of nonverbal communication measures. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 27, 657–669.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pierce, K., & Schreibman, L. (1995). Increasing complex social behaviors in children with autism: Effects of peer-implemented pivotal response training. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 28(3), 285–295.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rocha, M., Sherer, M., Paredes, S., & Schreibman, L. (1999). The progression of joint attention behaviors in children with autism. Poster Presentation: Chicago, IL: Association for Behavior Analysis.

  • Ruskin, E., Kasari, C., Mundy, P., & Sigman, M. (1994). Attention to people and toys during social and object mastery in children with Down syndrome. American Journal on Mental Retardation, 99(1), 103–111.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schopler, E., Reichler, R. J., DeVellis, R. F., & Daly, K. (1980). Toward object classification of childhood autism: Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS). Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 10, 91–103.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Seibert, J. M., & Hogan, A. E. (1982). Procedures manual for Early Social Communication Scales (ECSC). University of Miami, FL: Mailman Center for Child Development.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sigman, M. (1998). Change and continuity in the development of children with autism. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry & Allied Disciplines, 39, 817–827.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sigman, M., & Capps, L. (1997). Children with autism: A developmental perspective. Cambridge, MA; London: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stahmer, A. C. (1999). Using pivotal response training to facilitate appropriate play in children with autism spectrum disorders. Child Language Teaching and Therapy, 15, 29–40.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Striano, T., & Rochat, P. (1999). Developmental link between dyadic and triadic social competence in infancy. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 17(4), 551–562.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whalen, C., & Schreibman, L. (2003). Joint attention training for children with autism using behavior modification procedures. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 44(3), 456–468.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This research was funded in part from support by U.S. Public Health Grant No. MH39434 from the National Institute of Mental Health. This paper was also supported by a center grant from the National Institute of Mental Health No. U54MH066399, which is part of the NIH STAART Centers Program. We are grateful to all of the families who participated in this research. We also are appreciative of the undergraduate research assistants who helped in the implementation of this study.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Christina Whalen

    Present address: , TeachTown, Inc., 2815 Eastlake Avenue E., Suite 300, Seattle, WA, 98102, USA

  2. Brooke Ingersoll

    Present address: Lewis and Clark College, Portland, OR, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Washington Autism Center, Seattle, WA, USA

    Christina Whalen

  2. Department of Psychology, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA

    Laura Schreibman

  3. Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, USA

    Brooke Ingersoll

Authors
  1. Christina Whalen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Laura Schreibman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Brooke Ingersoll
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Christina Whalen.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Whalen, C., Schreibman, L. & Ingersoll, B. The Collateral Effects of Joint Attention Training on Social Initiations, Positive Affect, Imitation, and Spontaneous Speech for Young Children with Autism. J Autism Dev Disord 36, 655–664 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-006-0108-z

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-006-0108-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation