中華心理衛生協會

Purpose: This study explores the role of joint attention (JA) in language abilities, mental abilities, adaptive functioning, and autistic symptoms in young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Methods: Participants included 132 young children with ASD with a mean chronological age of about 30 months. We modified the Screening Tool for Autism in Two-Year-Olds, Taiwan version (T-STAT) to measure both initiating joint attention (IJA) and responding joint attention (RJA). We used the Mullen Scales of Early Learning (MSEL) to measure language and mental abilities. We used the Adaptive Behavior Assessment System-II (ABAS-II) to measure adaptive functioning. In addition, we used the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) to measure autistic symptoms. Results: With the exception of IJA and social adaptive functioning from the ABAS-II, the analysis identified significant relationships between JA and language abilities, mental abilities, adaptive functioning, and autistic symptoms. In addition, RJA contributed significantly to language abilities, mental abilities, adaptive functioning, and autistic symptoms. However, IJA contributed significantly only to language ability, mental abilities, and autistic symptoms. Conclusion: The results revealed that RJA is a robust contributor to language abilities, mental abilities, adaptive functioning, and autistic symptoms in young children with ASD. The ability to follow others is very important and can be helpful for the development of mental and social abilities in young children with ASD. IJA was a significant contributor to language abilities, mental abilities, and especially autistic symptoms. These results suggest that directing other's attention and sharing affect is important for the development of social abilities in young children with ASD. The results of this study provide implication for early intervention in young children with ASD.