ABSTRACT
Autism is associated with many different impairments in social functioning, and social deficits are at the core of all diagnostic systems, such as DSM-IV/DSM-IV TR (American Psychiatric Association 1994, 2000), or ICD-10 (WHO 1992). Amongst the specific deficits noted are the failure to understand or respond appropriately to others’ feelings or emotions, the lack of ability to share emotions or experiences, and poor integration of social, emotional and communicative behaviours within an interpersonal context (Bauminger and Kasari 2000, Sigman and Ruskin 1999, Volkmar et al. 1997).
