Joint Attention: Making the Shift
Rethinking Assessment and Intervention Approaches
Across schools, clinics, home health, and early intervention, many of us work with children developing foundational communication and social engagement skills. We recognize the importance of joint attention, but assessing these skills and knowing where to begin intervention isn't always straightforward.
One thing I've learned over the years is that our clinical practices keep evolving. As we learn more about and apply strengths-based and neurodiversity-affirming approaches, we're also rethinking how we assess, develop goals, and provide intervention. I've found that taking time to reflect and ask different questions can lead to new insights, a better understanding of the children we work with, and opportunities to adapt and shift our approach.
Making the Shift in Assessments:
Assessing children at the earliest developmental levels can bring some unique challenges.
Have you ever been in an assessment session and noticed that a child was having difficulty engaging, continuously moving throughout the room, or not yet demonstrating many of the skills being assessed?
In these moments, have you found yourself wondering:
“What is this assessment really telling me? Even if I use this tool informally, what meaningful information will I gain? With the limited time I have, am I using the right tools to identify this child's skills and strengths? Will the information I gather help me know where to begin with goals and intervention?”
I've certainly experienced those moments and asked myself those same questions. They prompted me to rethink how I was assessing early communication skills, especially joint attention.
I began asking myself a few questions about my own assessment approach:
- What other tools or checklists could help me recognize those early skills and smaller steps leading to joint attention?
- Was I recognizing the different ways a child might respond to or share attention?
- If I didn't really understand where the child was developmentally, how could I know where intervention should begin?
- When a child has difficulty engaging in assessment activities, could videos from parents or caregivers help me recognize skills that weren't apparent during the session?”
These questions led me to dig deeper into early development, the foundational skills that support joint attention, the different ways autistic children may demonstrate these skills, and new ways to gather meaningful assessment information. As I began putting what I learned into practice, my approach to assessment shifted.
Making the Shift: What changed?
- Developmental checklists helped me recognize smaller, prerequisite skills that weren't always captured by traditional assessment tools.
- Using new tools led me to identify emerging skills as well as subtle and different ways children demonstrated joint attention.
- Natural observations and family videos revealed strengths and emerging skills that might not have been apparent during assessment sessions.
- A clearer understanding of each child's developmental skills helped me identify meaningful starting points for goals and intervention.
During this learning journey, I began to realize that changing how I assessed joint attention and other early social communication skills was only part of the picture. I also began thinking about how I could use what I was learning to adapt my intervention approach.
Making the Shift in Intervention:
As I explored strengths-based, neurodiversity-affirming, developmental, and child-led intervention approaches, I began to recognize a common theme across many of these intervention models: the importance of building relationships and making meaningful connections with children. I also realized I needed to learn more about how to connect and engage with children at the earliest developmental levels and explore strategies to support that.
One way I like to think about this is through the idea of a bubble. We all have our own personal space where we feel comfortable and safe. For autistic children, this bubble may include familiar activities, interests, and experiences that bring comfort, especially when the world around them feels overwhelming or overstimulating.
Think of this bubble like our own homes. They're places where we can relax, be ourselves, enjoy what we love, and find refuge when the outside world becomes too much.
Now think about who we invite into our homes, our space, our bubble. People we feel connected to. People who appreciate us for who we are, share our interests, know when to listen, give us time and space, and recognize when we're ready to connect.
This perspective helped shift my approach to intervention with autistic children at the earliest developmental levels. I began to realize that taking time to understand a child's world, joining in their activities, and following their lead and interests created opportunities for connection and shared experiences.
I began asking myself one important question during sessions: How can I adapt the way I interact and respond to build connections and become someone the child feels comfortable inviting into their space?
With this question in mind, I began exploring the responsive strategies used in strengths-based, neurodiversity-affirming, developmental, and child-led approaches. I was especially interested in how these strategies could help me connect with autistic children at the earliest developmental levels while supporting foundational skills, including joint attention. As I began incorporating these strategies into my sessions, I started noticing meaningful differences.
Making the Shift: What did I notice?
- Responding to even the smallest attempts to share attention, whether through a movement, gesture, or sound, often led to more frequent and longer periods of engagement.
- When I imitated a child's movements or joined in their activity, they often noticed me, too! Mirroring their actions was a way to share, “I see you, and what you're doing is interesting to me too!” These small moments created opportunities for connection and shared attention.
- Paying closer attention to children's movements, responses, and sensory preferences led me to ask, “What might their brain and body be trying to tell me?” This helped me recognize when to adjust an activity, provide more support, or simply follow what the child enjoyed.
- Pausing, waiting, and giving children time to respond in their own ways created more opportunities for them to process, initiate, and engage without feeling rushed.
- Simplifying activities, reducing input, and sometimes just being quiet gave children more opportunities to shift their attention, participate, and connect.
Final Thoughts: Making the Shift
Making the shift doesn't always require big changes. Sometimes, it begins with small steps in how we observe, reflect, respond, and connect.
- Observation: What am I noticing, and what might I be missing?
- Reflection: What could I change about my approach?
- Trying Something New: What's one small step I could take?
Change our approach → See the child → Understand their world → Be the person they invite in.
Want to Explore Further?
For a closer look at joint attention development, assessment tools, practical strategies, and additional resources, explore my two-part course series:
