Understanding Social Communication Differences in Autism Spectrum Disorder and First-Degree Relatives: A Study of Looking and Speaking

Abstract

This study examined narrative ability in ASD and parents across two contexts differing in structure and emotional content, and explored gaze patterns that may underlie narrative differences by presenting narrative tasks on an eye tracker. Participants included 37 individuals with ASD and 38 controls, 151 parents of individuals with ASD and 63 parent controls. The ASD and ASD parent groups demonstrated lower narrative quality than controls in the less structured narrative task only. Subtler, context-dependent differences emerged in gaze and showed some associations with narrative quality. Results indicate a narrative ability profile that may reflect genetic liability to ASD, and subtle links between visual attention and complex language skills that may be influenced by ASD genetic risk.

Keywords: Autism spectrum disorder; Communication; Eye gaze; Language; Narrative; Visual attention.

Fig. 1

TAT images included

Fig. 2

Narrative quality across contexts for ASD and parent groups, indicated by greater LSA scores (i.e., higher semantic similarity) in the structured PB context in both groups, and differences across narrative contexts between a individuals with ASD and controls and b parents of individuals with ASD and controls

Fig. 3

Attention to setting in the Farmland Image (Image 2)

Fig. 4

Fixation profiles of a typically developing control showing a pattern focused strongly and centrally on animate elements, and their facial regions in particular; b ASD (left) and c BAP(+) ASD parent (right) gaze paths showing more broadly dispersed gaze paths, focused more on background elements

Fig. 5

Gaze associations with narrative quality during the TAT. a The ASD proband group demonstrated increased fixation duration towards faces and higher LSA scores (i.e., greater narrative coherence, indicated by higher semantic similarity scores) during the Farmland image (Image 2); b BAP(+) parent group demonstrated increased fixation duration towards bodies and higher LSA scores during the Man, Woman Gaze image (Image 6)