A Metacognitive Technological Intervention for Promoting Eye Contact Among Children With

This preliminary study aimed to examine improvement in eye contact among children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) following an innovative technological intervention integrated with meta-cognitive guidance. Eighteen ASD participants, ages 5–9, were divided into two equal intervention groups—one received metacognitive guidance, and one did not. An eye-contact assessment was conducted pre intervention and post intervention by tracing the children’s head and eye movements using a built-in laptop camera. The intervention included six 30-min sessions in which the participants played a computer game (C-Me) that required them to make eye contact with cartoon characters who needed assistance in solving a problem or completing a task. The results indicate that the technological intervention effectively promoted eye contact among all participants, especially those in the metacognitive intervention group.