ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the effect of adult interactive style on the spontaneous communication of children with autism. It reviews the relevant literature, starts by defining social communication, and a term which features heavily in the literature on child development. The chapter explores the differences between Typically Developing (TD) children's social communication and that of children with autism, with a particular focus on intentional spontaneous communication and issues in initiating communication in autism. It provides a number of cognitive/psychological and sensory processing theories which attempt to explain communication difficulties in autism. These theories need to be taken into consideration when trying to enhance adult interactive style. The chapter also reviews of naturalistic studies, mostly school-based, which focus on communicative functions, methods and partners, as well as activities which are likely to elicit spontaneous communication in children with autism. There are only a few studies which reported differences in children's spontaneous communication across activities.
