FOLLOWING THE CHILDS LEAD - MOTHERS INTERACTIONS WITH CHILDREN WITH AUTISM

This study examined the extent to which mothers of preschool children with autism use language that is related to the child's focus of atten tion. Fourteen mother-child dyads involving preschool children with au tism participated in this study, along with 14 matched dyads involving typically developing preschool children. Both groups were observed du ring 15 minutes of free play. Results revealed that the mothers of chi ldren with autism directed verbalizations to something within the chil d's focus of attention as frequently as the mothers of typically devel oping children. Thus, children with autism had as many opportunities t o benefit from verbal input related to their focus of attention as did typically developing children. However, mothers of children with auti sm directed verbalizations to something not within the child's focus o f attention more frequently than mothers of typically developing child ren. This nonrelated input may have reflected the mothers' attempts to adapt to their children's difficulties in attention and interaction.