Abstract:

Imitation plays an important role in the development of children in early childhood. In children with autism spectrum disorder (OSB), imitation skills are limited and these limitations distinguish children with autism spectrum disorder from children with other developmental retardation. Research shows that early-term imitation skills in children with OSB are associated with expression language, receiver language, speech distribution, social interaction and game development, and that the imitation also plays a critical role in the development of children with OSB. However, children with OSB have a weaker performance in their imitation skills, both in normal development and in children diagnosed with different developmental retardations, and they experience more difficulty in self-imitation behaviors in natural environments than imitation behaviors in structured environments. This situation shows that even if children with OSB gain their imitation skills, they have difficulties in understanding the social role of the imitation, in natural contexts they have difficulties in using the imitation for social interaction and social learning.

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