Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have significant difficulties engaging in imitative behaviors, which can have cascading developmental effects on subsequent social communication skills. Although there is a substantial body of research on imitation in children, research on imitation recognition is extremely limited, despite its theoretical significance. The current study examined the longitudinal trajectory of imitation recognition during a period of contingent imitation by an adult in a sample of 51 children with ASD over a 9-month period. Results indicated that rates of implicit and explicit imitation recognition as well as the proportion of explicit imitation increased over time, consistent with their developmental emergence in children without ASD. Multilevel modeling indicated a main effect of implicit imitation recognition on receptive language and expressive vocabulary, suggesting the relationship between these skills in children with ASD. In addition, there was a marginally significant time by explicit imitation recognition interaction in predicting receptive language, indicating that children who demonstrated higher rates of explicit imitation recognition at baseline made greater gains in receptive language over time than those with lower rates of explicit imitation recognition. The clinical implications of these results suggest that early interventions that target imitation recognition may support the development of language skills in children with ASD.
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