Autism Spectrum Disorder ( Asd ) - 2826 Words

It has been observed that individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have a harder time engaging in social connections, which can be initially displayed by lack of eye contact. There are many variables in severity on the autism spectrum as well as many therapies and trainings that can assist individuals with ASD to improve their skills of social communication and understanding. The purpose of this study is to have individuals with ASD view a variety of animal and human faces to determine if non-human faces, which allow for fewer social cues, allows individuals with high-functioning autism to make eye contact. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a universal term for a complex disorder of brain development. In 2013, the ASD†¦show more content†¦An indication of HFA is the inability to create friendships due to the inability to share emotional experiences and understand social cues and other’s points of views (Lichikawa, Takahshi, Ando, Anme, Ishizaki, Yamaguchi Nakayama, 2013). Whether or not a child makes eye contact is a large indicator that the child might have autism. Senju, Hasegawa, Tojo, and Osanai (2007), addressed how atypical eye contact is a characteristic of autism. The study used a visual search paradigm to determine if facial context would alter the direct gaze, which is when one is directly looking at someone, also known as eye contact, in children with autism. A visual search paradigm is where a target is shown within multiple distractors and an individual’s job is to figure out the target as fast as possible. The experimental studies showed that direct gaze affects a person’s perception, cognition, and attention by observing the act of yawning while using videos of others yawning as the catalyst for the experiment. Being able to not complete or not develop a typical mutual gaze behavior, which when two or more people share a gaze, is a characteristic of social and communicative disorders and signs tha t one might be on the autism spectrum The results show that, in children with autism and non-autistic developing children,