Eye-tracking, autism and attention

Researchers at Yale University in the U.S. have been using eye-tracking technology to look at the way autistic children see the world. The researchers used an animation technique in which points of light recreated the movement of real people. The children who were developing normally saw the lights as human figures but the children with autism missed out on these social cues and only paid attention when there was a link between a movement and a sound. Previous studies by the same researchers have shown that toddlers with autism pay more attention to mouths than eyes when people are talking to them.

You can find out more about this research at

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090330200827.htm