Does impaired social motivation drive imitation deficits in children with autism spectrum disorder?

Abstract

There is clear evidence that children with autism spectrum disorder display deficits in imitation but little consensus on the reasons for these deficits. In this paper, we review evidence that suggests that the presence of imitation deficits may be explained in part by social communication deficits, specifically by impaired social motivation. First, we discuss the social role that imitation serves in typical development and how imitation may facilitate the forming of social connections. Then, we describe evidence that suggests that both the impairments in imitation that have been seen in some areas, and the relative sparing of imitation in other areas, can be explained by impairments in social motivation. Lastly, the importance of therapies to incorporate social communication skills when targeting imitation is emphasized. As more research needs to be done to empirically examine this hypothesis, suggestions of directions for future studies are discussed.