Directing and Maintaining Attention in Mother–Infant Interaction on Infants With and Without Autism Spectrum Disorder

This study investigated how mothers, during face-to-face interaction with their infants, direct their infants' attention. Mothers' behaviors were measured by the frequency and type (e.g., directing vs. maintaining attention) as well as patterns of infant-directed speech (IDS) in two semi-structured conditions (e.g., eating vs. play), comparing the responses of seven infants with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and eight infants with typical development (TD). Results showed that the mothers of infants with ASD showed ostensive cues more frequently, while the mothers of infants with TD maintained attention more frequently. Furthermore, the average tone pitch of mothers' voices giving ostensive cue in both groups was higher in the play condition than that of the eating condition. The average tone pitch of mothers was not different between groups. The mothers' behavior may have changed according to the characteristics of their infants and the context in which the interaction occured.