Comparison of mother child interactions between two groups of mother child pairs--10 higher functioning verbal autistic children and their mothers and 10 lower functioning nonverbal autistic children and mothers--found that mothers tended to be quite responsive to their children's relative capabilities. (Author/DB)

Fourteen mother-child dyads involving preschool children with autism and 14 matched dyads of typically developing children and mothers were observed during free play. Mothers of autistic children directed verbalizations to something within the child's focus of attention as often as other mothers. They directed verbalizations to something not…

Longitudinal videotape recordings of six young children with autism and six age- and language-matched children with Down syndrome in structured play with their mothers were analyzed. Findings of reduced expression of positive affect by autistic subjects suggest that their known deficits in attention and affective responsiveness persisted even in…