What is Joint Attention

When we’re talking about social communication, it’s about more than the words we use. Smooth social interaction is COMPLICATED! It’s a wonder any of us can get a message across. Seriously. I spend a lot of time thinking about this, and it blows my mind even now.

There are several prerequisite skills that need to be in place, even before kids start talking, that help develop good social communication. One of the skills you may have heard of is called Joint Attention.

Joint attention is what happens when we’re both paying attention to the same thing at the same time. It’s what we mean when we say that we’re doing something together.

Having joint attention, or doing something together, means that we’re tuned in to the other person. It means that we’re connected with them for purposes of that activity. It means that we’re paying attention to the person and the activity at the same time.

See if you can spot the (qualitative) differences in the following scenarios:

Your child sees a plane in the sky and looks at it, or

Your child sees a plane in the sky, points at it, looks at you, and now you’re both looking at the plane.

You put on some music and your child starts to dance, or

You put on some music and your child holds your hand while looking at you as you both dance.

You’re reading a book as your child plays with a toy, or

You’re reading a book as your child and you look at the pictures in the book.

Got it?

Subtle, right? But meaningful. Joint attention is a big deal. It’s a jumping off point for many other skills that humans need in order to reach emotional and social maturity.

Skills like taking someone else’s perspective;

Skills like collaborating on a project;

Skills like having a conversation.

It all starts with joint attention. (But remember, that regulation comes first).

If you have a question about whether your child is demonstrating joint attention, or if you’ve already noticed that they’re not demonstrating joint attention, reach out. We’re happy to answer questions.