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Comprehensive Guide to Autism pp 989–1011Cite as

Joint Attention Training in Children with Autism

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Abstract

Joint attention is a complex communicative skill whereby two individuals coordinate their attention towards an object or event. This skill is seen as a critical determinant of language and communication abilities later in life, but children with autism are at a heightened risk for deficits in joint attention abilities. This chapter provides an overview of joint attention, including the separate skills of initiating joint attention (IJA) and responding to joint attention (RJA), and discusses the importance of joint attention to children with autism. Further, specific interventions designed to teach both IJA and RJA skills are described and examples provided. Finally, general considerations related to sequence and context of instruction, selection of referent objects, and prompt fading are discussed.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instruction and Curriculum Leadership, The University of Memphis, 400 A Ball Hall, 38152, Memphis, TN, USA

    James Meindl

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  1. James Meindl
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Correspondence to James Meindl .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Westminster, Faculty of Science & Technology, London, United Kingdom

    Vinood B. Patel

  2. Nutritional Sciences Division and Genomics Centre, King's College London, London, United Kingdom

    Victor R. Preedy

  3. Faculty of Society and Health, Buckinghamshire New University, Middlesex, United Kingdom

    Colin R. Martin

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Meindl, J. (2014). Joint Attention Training in Children with Autism. In: Patel, V., Preedy, V., Martin, C. (eds) Comprehensive Guide to Autism. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-4788-7_51

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-4788-7_51

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-4787-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-4788-7

  • eBook Packages: Behavioral Science

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