Visual attention and inhibition of school-aged children with autism spectrum disorder level one: Evidence from eye-tracking’s prosaccade and anti-saccade tasks

BACKGROUND: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition that is marked by challenges in social communication and the presence of repetitive behaviors. The severity of ASD is categorized into three levels. Children with ASD level 1 (ASD-L1), which is the mildest form, usually have average or above-average intellectual abilities but may experience some cognitive skill deficits. METHOD: This study compares inhibition and visual attention between children with ASD-L1 and typically developing children (TDC). Eye tracking was used to measure prosaccade (visual attention) and antisaccade (inhibition) tasks from the visual-guided saccade paradigm. RESULTS: The study included 16 children with ASD-L1 (mean age = 7.47) and 14 TDC (mean age = 7.69). There was no significant difference in visual attention between the groups, but inhibition was weaker in children with ASD-L1. CONCLUSIONS: These findings highlight that even with typical intellectual abilities, children with ASD-L1 have significant difficulties in controlling automatic responses to achieve behavioral or cognitive goals (inhibition). The results provide insights into the cognitive profile of children with Level 1 ASD, aiding evaluation and treatment. Future studies should further examine the children with ASD-L1 when they are in situations with a high level of cognitive and behavioral conflict.