Altered interactive dynamics of gaze behavior during face-to-face interaction in autistic individuals: a dual eye-tracking study.
Daniel Tönsing, Bastian Schiller, Antonia Vehlen and 4 others
PMID 39987214WHAT IT FOUND
Autistic adults initiated eye contact less often and broke it off more frequently than neurotypical adults, especially while listening.
They also reported the interaction as more stressful and less enjoyable. This suggests reduced eye contact is driven by active avoidance rather than indifference.
Key findings
01Autistic individuals showed lower levels of mutual eye gaze compared to neurotypical individuals.
02Reduced eye contact in autistic individuals was largely explained by more frequent break-ups of eye contact rather than fewer initiations.
03Autistic individuals reported higher levels of shame, fear, and stress, and lower happiness before and after the social interaction.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study included only male participants, so findings may not generalize to autistic women. The interaction was with a trained neurotypical confederate, not another autistic person, which may influence the 'double empathy' dynamic. The setting was a controlled laboratory experiment, which may not fully reflect natural, real-world social interactions. A significant portion of the autistic sample (roughly half) showed typical gaze patterns, indicating substantial heterogeneity within the group.
Declared interests
Funding was provided by the European Research Council, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, and Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg. No other conflicts of interest were declared.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume all autistic individuals have atypical gaze behavior. About half of the autistic participants in this study showed eye contact patterns indistinguishable from neurotypical controls. Clinicians should assess individual differences rather than applying a blanket expectation of gaze avoidance.