All children deserve the best start in life and new scientific discoveries deepen our understanding of how to create the best environments for children. The team at I-LABS creates new and effective ways to bridge the gap between the science and the practice of learning by disseminating the latest science of child development. Our team shares the latest scientific discoveries in relevant and actionable ways with those who can best put it into practice: early learning professionals, parents, and policymakers. Partners use cutting-edge research to create evidence-based policies, practices, and programs that grow the next generation of lifelong learners.

This 20-minute Online module covers the following points:
-From birth, children show interest in other people. By late infancy, they engage with others through joint attention. Joint attention is sharing attention between objects and other people.
-Around one year of age, children recognize the importance of other people’s eyes. They begin to follow others’ eye gaze.
-Children’s gaze following predicts other developmental outcomes, like language development. Sharing eye gaze doesn’t come as naturally to children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). This can affect their language and communication skills.