Eye Movements during Sentence Processing in High-Functioning Autistic Children Compared to Neurotypical Peers: An Eye Tracking Study

Authors

Faezeh Dehghan, Mehdi Alizadeh Zarei, Reza Khosro Abadi, Hashem Farhangdost, Amirali Soltani Tehrani, Mohamad Taghi Joghati

Abstract

Background: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder. The pattern of eye movements during reading can significantly impact reading quality. This study aimed to examine the eye movement patterns, which are essential for reading, in children with ASD as compared to their neurotypical peers. Methods: This study focused on two crucial indicators that influence reading: eye fixation time and saccade movement. Comparison of parameters of saccade movements and eye fixation in a sentence reading task was done between two groups using an eye tracker device. autistic chidren (15 children, average age: 102.33months) and their neurotypical peers (17 children, average age: 101.69 months) participated in this study. Results: The results showed that compared to their neurotypical peers, children with ASD have lower amplitude while reading sentences (P.Value : 0.02).These children used more number of fixations to read the words in the sentence (P.Value : 0.02). Comparing the total time spent to read a sentence between the two groups shows that autistic children need more time to read a sentence (P.Value : 0.02). Discussion: these results suggest that low-level sensorimotor processes involved in generating accurate eye movements such as dorsal visual pathway and cerebellum can significantly impact the reading quality of children with ASD