Autism affects joint attention negatively, and therapies aimed at increasing joint attention in Autism are a huge area of research in psychology, as it can have great impact on how one communicated with someone who has autism. Autism can significantly decrease joint attention, which is the practice by which two people are able to focus on one thing after one of them has captured the attention of the other, and due to the lack of communication skills in someone with autism, this can be highly problematic for these individuals.