התערבות טכנולוגית לקשר עין בקרב ילדים עם אוטיזם

One of the most significant difficulties in social communication among people with autism
is the difficulty of creating eye contact as a basis for communication interaction with the
environment. Poor eye contact affects social learning and the ability to communicate best
with the world. This study examined the effect of technological intervention on improving
eye contact among children with high-function autism (HFASD). The software called CME
includes games with 5 animation characters from the children's world, each of which has a
short storyline played in the background. In order to progress in the plot, the child is asked
by the character to look it in the eyes and receives active feedback from the character as well
as visual and verbal feedback. The software identifies the focus of the user's gaze via a
Webcam, and the user navigates the software using head movements and focusing the gaze
only. The study included 24 participants with HFASD (23 boys and one girl), attending
kindergarten and first grade. The intervention program consisted of six individual sessions,
three times a week, during which the participants experienced the unique software with adult
mediation. The computer software collected information regarding the participants gaze

focus in several parameters. Pre and post intervention, the participants eye contact ability was
examined in order to see whether an optimal change has occurred. In general, the results of
the study indicate an improvement in the focus of the children's gaze in the area of the eyes
of the animated characters shown in the computer game. Also, the results indicate that the
time the children were wondering around the screen with their gaze has decreases.