Imitation and social responsiveness in autistic children

Abstract

Fifteen autistic children, ages 4-6 years, participated in the present study. Imitation and object permanence skills were assessed. Language and social behaviors were observed during free play. Children were also exposed to three interactive procedures that differed in developmental sophistication. The experimenter either (1) simultaneously imitated the child's actions, (2) modeled a familiar action, or (3) modeled a novel action. It was found that the autistic children who had a low level of imitative ability (Piaget's Stages 2-3) were more socially responsive, showed more eye contact, and played with toys in a less perseverative manner when the experimenter imitated their behavior than when the experimenter modeled either a familiar or a novel action. When the experimenter modeled a familiar as opposed to a novel action, these children were more likely to spontaneously imitate the experimenter. The autistic children with more highly developed imitation skills, however, responded similarly to all conditions. They also were generally more socially and verbally responsive. These results suggest that developmental status is an important variable in designing intervention programs for severely impaired children.

Early Indicators of Autism Spectrum Disorders in the Second Year of Life

“…Children with ASD show significant deficits in symbolic or make-believe play (i.e., using pretend actions with objects) and limited abilities to use objects functionally (Dawson & Adams, 1984;Sigman & Ungerer, 1984;Wetherby & Prutting, 1984;Wing, Gould, Yeates, & Brierly, 1977). It is noteworthy that a lack of varied, spontaneous make-believe play is one of the four possible features of the impairment in communication in the DSM-IV (APA, 1994).…”

The role of objects and effects in action imitation: Comparing the imitation of object-related actions vs. gestures in 18-month-old infants

“…It is widely known that especially children with autism have difficulties in learning by imitation (e.g., DeMyer et al, 1972;Meltzoff & Gopnik, 1993). This low level of imitation ability is closely linked to the atypical social, cognitive and communicative development of children with autism (Dawson & Adams, 1984;Smith & Bryson, 1994). So far, however, no consensus has been reached about the individual imitation abilities of typically developing infants.…”

Understanding the mechanisms behind deficits in imitation: Do individuals with autism know ‘what’ to imitate and do they know ‘how’ to imitate?

“…The diagnostic groups did not differ in their participation in the imitation battery (Rogers et al, 2003). Dawson and Adams (1984) ruled out a motivational explanation underlying autistic children's general failure to engage with other people. They demonstrated that autistic children's attention to and their interactions with people could be enhanced by manipulating the partner's responses.…”

“…They demonstrated that autistic children's attention to and their interactions with people could be enhanced by manipulating the partner's responses. They found that children with autism were more socially responsive, showed more eye contact, and played with toys in a less perseverative manner, when the experimenter imitated their behavior (Dawson & Adams, 1984). Some experimental autism imitation studies have controlled for motivation.…”