‘Looking’ better: Designing an at-home gaze training system for children with ASD

Attention and eye movement control are essential for gathering sensory information in our environment however, both attention redirection and eye movement control are atypical in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Improvements in the accuracy and timing of attention redirection and saccadic eye movements could have corollary beneficial effects on social engagement. Here, we show pilot data indicating proof of concept for such training in a laboratory environment and review the logistics of delivering similar-quality, yet affordable, training at home. Finally, we review a novel method for demonstrating whether eye movement behavior that has been modified in a video game environment carries over to a natural social engagement.