A Two Time Point Study of Imitative Abilities in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Abstract

Background Researchers have used various paradigms to explore the universality and specificity of imitation deficits in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). However, some issues still need to be investigated, especially for children with ASDs under the age of 4. Method Two studies were conducted to examine the imitative abilities of children with autism spectrum disorders. Study 1 examined immediate and deferred imitation abilities in 18 children with ASDs, 18 children with developmental delay (DD), and 19 typically developing children (mean ages of all groups were below 4 years). Four tasks were used to evaluate immediate imitation abilities: meaningful actions on objects, non-meaningful actions on objects, manual movements, and oral-facial movements. Eighteen months after study 1 was completed, study 2 examined advanced imitative abilities in 11 children with ASDs and 11 children with DD from study 1. Results The results of study 1 indicated that, compared to the two control groups, children with ASDs experienced significant difficulty in imitating non-meaningful actions only. The findings of study 2 suggested that children with ASDs were still significantly impaired on the imitation of single non-meaningful actions compared to children with DD. Conclusions The relationships between specific imitation deficits, executive functioning, and shared intentionality in children with ASDs are further discussed.