How Is Pointing Related to Joint Attention? Two Kinds of Pointing and How to Teach Them
Pointing is joint attention made visible. When a toddler points at a dog and looks back at you, they're directing your attention to something and checking that you've joined them, which is the definition of joint attention in a single gesture. That's why pointing is one of the specific behaviors autism screeners ask about. This post explains the two kinds of pointing (and which one matters more), when pointing typically develops, how it relates to autism, and six steps for teaching it at home.
Pointing is joint attention you can see
Joint attention is the three-way coordination between a child, another person, and a thing (Mundy & Newell, 2007), and most of it is hard to observe. A gaze shift lasts half a second. Pointing is different: the arm comes up, the finger extends, and the child's intention is unmistakable, which makes it the most legible form of joint attention there is.
It also does something gaze alone can't. A point tells the adult exactly where to look, so the adult's words land exactly where the child's attention is. Tomasello and Farrar (1986) showed that children learn words best when the adult labels what the child is already focused on, and a point is the child's way of creating that condition on purpose. Rowe and Goldin-Meadow (2009) found that the gestures children produced at 14 months predicted vocabulary size at school entry. Pointing is how a child starts running their own language lessons.
Two kinds of pointing (and which one matters more)
Researchers have distinguished two functions of pointing since the 1970s (Bates, Camaioni & Volterra, 1975).
Pointing to request, sometimes called protoimperative pointing, means "I want that." The child points at the cookie jar or the toy on the shelf, and the look at you, when it comes, is to check whether you're going to deliver.
Pointing to share, sometimes called protodeclarative pointing, means "look at that!" The child points at the airplane or the dog because they want you to see it too. This kind almost always comes with a look back at your face, and it's the one that represents true initiating joint attention.
The second kind matters more. It's the one most often late or absent in autism; the book notes that a child on the spectrum may point only to request and never to share, and that pattern is one of the most useful things a parent can describe to a pediatrician. It's also the one the M-CHAT-R/F asks about directly, with an item on whether your child points with one finger to show you something interesting (Robins et al., 2014). When a parent tells me "he points all the time," my next question is "at what?" If the answer is the fridge and the remote, that's requesting. If the answer is the garbage truck, that's sharing.
When pointing typically develops
The CDC's 2022 milestones (cdc.gov/ncbddd/actearly) list pointing to ask for something or to get help, and showing you an object they like, at 15 months, and pointing to show you something interesting at 18 months. Those are ages by which most children do the behavior, so plenty do it earlier; reaching with an open hand usually comes first, and some babies produce a recognizable index-finger point around their first birthday. The kit's Progression of Joint Attention chart places pointing to request at 12 to 15 months and pointing to share interest at 14 to 16 months, the ages at which each typically emerges; the CDC ages reflect when its absence becomes worth mentioning. The full sequence is in joint attention milestones from birth to 24 months.
Pointing and autism
Reduced pointing, particularly reduced pointing to share, is one of the earlier and more consistent differences reported in children later diagnosed with autism, which is why it appears on screeners and why an evaluator will probably try to elicit it. It's also one of the differences parents can actually see.
I want to calibrate this carefully. A child who isn't pointing at 15 months is a child who should be screened, which is different from a child who has autism. Late pointing also happens with hearing loss, motor delays, general language delay, and children on the slower side of a wide normal range. The pattern matters more than the single skill: not pointing, plus not responding to name, plus not showing you things, is a different picture from not pointing alone. The broader picture is in signs of autism in toddlers. Whatever the cause, the work at home is the same.
How to teach pointing at home (6 steps)
These come from the book's strategies for gestures and joint attention, in the order I'd use them.
1. Model pointing constantly, and pause after
Point at things all day with your whole arm and an extended finger, and say one or two words: "Look! Bird!" Then stop talking and wait, looking at the thing and then at your child. The book calls this the Gesture + Label game. You're teaching what a point looks like and what it's for, and giving your child a silent count of five to turn their head.
2. Treat every reach as a point
When your child reaches toward something with an open hand, respond as if they'd pointed: "Ball! You want the ball!" and give it. A reach is the developmental ancestor of a point, and when reaching reliably gets a warm, fast response, the gesture gets refined. As you hand over the item, you can touch the back of their hand so the index finger extends a little, then let go.
3. Put things in sight but out of reach
A high shelf, a clear container with a tight lid, a snack in a zip bag. The book's "engineering communication opportunities" ideas all create a reason to indicate. When the child looks at the object and then at you, model the point yourself ("You want the cracker? Cracker!") while you point at it, then give it. The best setups for this are in communication temptations.
4. Use books with big single pictures
Put your finger on a picture and say the word. Then say "where's the dog?" and wait. Many children touch the picture before they ever point at something across the room, and a touch on a page is a point in miniature. Celebrate it as one.
5. If you use physical help, ask first, and fade fast
Some children benefit from having their hand gently shaped into a point and guided toward an object. If you do this, do it with consent (say "I'm going to help your hand" and stop if they pull away), do it at most a handful of times, and drop to a lighter prompt as soon as possible: a touch on the elbow, then your own point as a model, then nothing. Prompts that aren't faded become part of the behavior (Cooper, Heron & Heward, 2020). Many occupational therapists and autistic adults recommend hand-under-hand instead, where your hand is beneath the child's and they can lift away at any time, and I'd start there.
6. Make the first points pay off big
When a real point happens, whether it's at the fridge or the garbage truck, respond with a big face, the word, and the thing (or, for a sharing point, your excited agreement: "Truck! Big truck! I see it!"). The response is what teaches the child that pointing works. For sharing points, the payoff is your reaction, so make it worth pointing for.
Six steps to the first point.
A one-page printable of the six steps and the Gesture + Label game, with the words to say at each step.
One email with the PDF, plus occasional early-intervention tips from Andrea. Unsubscribe anytime.
Mistakes that stall it
Turning it into a quiz. "Where's the dog? Point to the dog. Can you point?" Repeated demands make pointing a performance, and children who feel tested tend to disengage. The book's rule is three comments for every question.
Grabbing the hand over and over. A child whose hand is taken and aimed many times a day learns to wait for the hand. If you've used physical help more than a few times and nothing has changed, go back to modeling.
Withholding too long. The pause is a silent count of five, not a standoff. If your child is frustrated and no gesture has come, model the point, say the word, and give the item.
Only working on requesting. Clear containers and high shelves teach pointing to ask. Pointing to share needs you to do the sharing first: dozens of "Look! Bird!" moments a day with a pause after each.
Skipping the look. A point without a glance back at you is half the gesture. When your child points, wait a beat and see whether their eyes come to your face; if they don't, lean into their line of sight so your reaction is easy to find.
The games that make the glance back more likely are in joint attention activities for toddlers. The start-now plan organizes them into a first week, and the Joint Attention Builder worksheet is part of the book and resource kit.
Frequently asked questions
Is not pointing at 12 months a sign of autism?
On its own, no. The CDC lists pointing to ask for something at 15 months and pointing to show interest at 18 months, so many typically developing 12-month-olds aren't pointing yet. Not pointing by 15 to 18 months, especially alongside reduced response to name and not following your point, is a reason to ask your pediatrician for the M-CHAT-R/F and to contact Early Intervention.
What if my toddler points to request but not to show?
That pattern is worth mentioning to your pediatrician, because pointing to share is the kind more often affected in autism and it's what the M-CHAT-R/F asks about. At home, shift your effort toward modeling sharing points: dozens of "Look! Dog!" moments a day with a pause after each, big reactions when your child notices anything, and books where you point at pictures together.
What is the difference between protoimperative and protodeclarative pointing?
Protoimperative pointing is pointing to request ("I want that"); protodeclarative pointing is pointing to share interest ("look at that!"). The terms come from Bates, Camaioni and Volterra (1975). Both are communication, but protodeclarative pointing is the one that counts as initiating joint attention and the one evaluators watch for.
Six steps to the first point.
A one-page printable of the six steps and the Gesture + Label game, with the words to say at each step.
One email with the PDF, plus occasional early-intervention tips from Andrea. Unsubscribe anytime.