The study compared the attention-directing behaviors of 15 autistic children, 14 children with developmental language delay, and 13 young normal children. Although the autistic children's behavior was most unlike that of the other groups, autistic children did not produce more attention-directing behavior when a high degree of adult direction was…

In an examination of the association of shared positive affect during 2 communicative contexts, it was found that 18 normal children displayed positive affect toward an adult during joint attention situations, while 18 autistic children did not. Eighteen mentally retarded children displayed high levels of positive affect during requesting as well…

Twenty-three autistic children (age 4-19) and 23 mental age-matched controls completed a task of sustained attention. Results suggest that autistic children's difficulties in sustaining attention may be attributable to developmental delay and motivational contingencies of task rather than to a primary impairment in ability to sustain attention.…

Compared to age-matched and language-matched controls, 15 autistic children (mean age of 45 months) who were administered the Early Social-Communication Scales displayed deficits in gestural joint attention skills in 2 testing sessions 13 months apart. The measure of gestural nonverbal joint attention predicted language development in subjects.…