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Eye contact is something that parents comment on all the time. When a child isn’t looking, it doesn’t automatically mean that s/he is being impolite, not focusing or being naughty.

Before we dive in, I want to let you know that we do not recommend teaching eye contact separately, nor should it be a goal unless eye contact is needed to teach other skills that require the child to look carefully (such as speech sounds). And we would only teach this if and only if, this is the biggest obstacle in your child’s communication right now. Watch our previous video about eye contact here: https://youtu.be/GzB4s9HTpKA

There are a few DON’T DOs - 1. Pushing your child’s face towards you - this doesn’t cue his eyes at all, you’re just pushing his neck towards your direction. 2. Do not keep repeating “look” whilst calling his name. Again, this does not work and will only result in frustration and annoyance.

Whilst putting the desired object at your eye level is a good idea, do not use it too often, because it actually just teaches your child to follow the food with eye gaze. Instead, use “shaping” and give your child the desired object wherever his head and eyes go towards your direction.

The analogy is like teaching a seal to jump over a hoop. Don’t get me wrong, we are not treating your child like an animal. It’s just a structured way so that you and your child both understand how to do it.

As long as the seal walks towards the hoop, it gets a reward (food or toys), the closer it gets to the hoop, the more food it will get. And it will get the maximum amount of food if it crosses the hoop.

So you should do the same with your child, wait until he turns his head towards you then give a reward. Do not wait, and your task should last around 5-10 minutes, only teaching eye contact.

Slowly, your child will understand that by putting his eyes close to your face, he’ll get more rewards. And you will have to stick to this plan for at least a month to see significant results, please be consistent and only do this for 5-10 minutes every day. For questions, please put them in the comments section below!