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Eye contact is impaired in autistic children, but little has been known about when the impairment is first manifested (Arch Gen Psychiatry 2002; 59:809). Normal infants show increased scanning of their mothers' faces from week 3 to week 11 (Science 1977; 198:853). To study infants' eye fixation on facial and body parts and on objects, investigators used eye-tracking equipment and software to measure the time that 110 infants spent in visual scanning during naturalistic caregiver–baby interactions.
Ten eye-tracking sessions occurred between ages 2 and 24 months; diagnosis for autism took place at age 36 months. Two groups were studied — 59 infants with one full autistic sibling, and 51 low-risk infants without autism in 1st-, 2nd-, or 3rd-deg…