Association of turn-taking functions with joint attention in toddlers with autism

Nonverbal turn taking, defined as back-and-forth exchanges, may be used to convey instrumental or social intent. It has been theorized that social turn taking is foundational to joint attention and, as such, it has been incorporated as a component of early interventions for children with autism, who often have challenges in joint attention competency. The purpose of this study was to analyze the relationships between two turn-taking functions and joint attention as observed during interactions between 20 toddlers with autism who received intervention and their caregivers. It was hypothesized that socially driven turn taking would be positively related to joint attention, but instrumentally motivated turn taking would not. Video analysis revealed a positive relationship between social turn taking and joint attention, but not between instrumental turn taking and joint attention. While not causal, the findings support the promotion of social content in intervention and the concept that social turn taking may be a precursory competency to joint attention. Lay abstract Back-and-forth interaction, or turn taking, may support later joint attention, a more complex form of interaction, when promoted in interventions for young children with autism, especially depending on the child’s intent when interacting. In the present study, we observed videos of 20 toddlers with autism engaging in turn taking with their caregivers during an intervention designed to support children’s joint attention. We sought to identify when the children displayed turn taking socially and when they were using it for nonsocial purposes in the intervention videos. We also observed videos after the intervention was complete to identify when children used joint attention when interacting with their caregivers. After these observations, we used these video data to explore the relationship of social turn taking to joint attention, and the relationship of nonsocial turn taking to joint attention. We found a significant relationship between social turn taking and joint attention, but not between nonsocial turn taking and joint attention. These findings support the importance of considering social turn taking in interactions between young children with autism and their caregivers.