{"id":1504,"date":"2026-07-28T11:29:01","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T11:29:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/edpsych\/?p=1504"},"modified":"2026-07-28T11:29:01","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T11:29:01","slug":"attention-autism-an-academic-critique-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/edpsych\/2026\/07\/28\/attention-autism-an-academic-critique-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Attention Autism: An academic critique (2026)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Authors: <\/strong>Sophie Brinsmead and Colin Woodcock<br \/>\n<strong>Published:<\/strong> 2026<br \/>\n<strong>Publication:<\/strong> <span data-olk-copy-source=\"MessageBody\">DECP Debate<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"background-color: #f2f2f2;padding: 10px\">Attention Autism is an intervention programme that aims to develop children\u2019s attention, connection and engagement. This critique considers the intervention from the perspectives of joint attention, social motivation and monotropism. A systematic review examines the effectiveness of Attention Autism on joint attention in pre-school and primary children from (birth to eleven). Findings from five studies are discussed. Whilst all five studies report a positive impact of the programme, issues are identified in both intervention fidelity and methodological rigour. Given these issues, it is difficult to assert confidently that positive results arose specifically from Attention Autism itself. There is a need for further, more rigorous research. Implications for professionals and future research are discussed.<\/p>\n<p>Brinsmead, S. and Woodcock, C. (2026) Attention Autism: An academic critique. <em>DECP Debate, 193,&nbsp;<\/em>5-17 <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.53841\/bpsdeb.2026.1.193.5\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/doi.org\/10.53841\/bpsdeb.2026.1.193.5<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/edpsych\/files\/2026\/07\/Attention-autism-paper-final-pre-publication-version.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Download (pre-publication version)<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Authors: Sophie Brinsmead and Colin Woodcock Published: 2026 Publication: DECP Debate Attention Autism is an intervention programme that aims to develop children\u2019s attention, connection and engagement. This critique considers the intervention from the perspectives of joint attention, social motivation and &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/edpsych\/2026\/07\/28\/attention-autism-an-academic-critique-2026\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":58097,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1003906,403375],"tags":[1003884,1003886],"class_list":["post-1504","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-attention","category-autism","tag-academic-critique","tag-published-article"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/edpsych\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1504","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/edpsych\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/edpsych\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/edpsych\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/58097"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/edpsych\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1504"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/edpsych\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1504\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1506,"href":"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/edpsych\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1504\/revisions\/1506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/edpsych\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1504"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/edpsych\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1504"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.soton.ac.uk\/edpsych\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}