Do You See What I See? Joint Attention and Its Importance in Autism (Research Reflections: Joint Attention and Its Importance in Autism‪)‬

Logan and her mother are playing in the backyard one summer day when a butterfly lands on a flower nearby. Logan looks over at the butterfly, looks at her mother, and then points to the butterfly as if silently saying "Mom look at this!" Logan's mother then looks where she is pointing and says, "That is a beautiful butterfly, Logan!" Logan's desire to share the experience of the butterfly with her mother constituted an episode of what researchers call the initiation of "joint attention." Joint attention involves the organization of attention between oneself, an object or event, and another person with the purpose of sharing interest. Simply put, joint attention requires a child to "socially coordinate the attention with other people." This initiating of joint attention (as opposed to responding to joint attention) is particularly important in understanding social and affective deficits in autism.