European Journal of Educational and Development Psychology Vol.8, No.4, pp.1-16, December 2020 Published by ECRTD-UK Print ISSN: 2055-0170(Print), Online ISSN: 2055-0189(Online) 1 ATYPICAL PATTERNS OF RHYTHMICAL MOTHER-CHILD INTERACTION AS AN EARLY SIGN OF AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER Asimenia Papoulidi Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences, Athens, Greece Email: a.papoulidi@panteion.gr Christina Papaeliou University of West Attica, Athens, Greece Email: cpapailiou@uniwa.gr Stavroula Samartzi Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences, Athens, Greece Email: samartzi@panteion.gr ABSTRACT: Face-to-face interactions are organized in a clear rhythmic structure. This study examined how the rhythmic patterns of behaviors during mother-child interactions differentiate children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) from Typically Developing (TD) children. Ten children with ASD and ten TD children, matched for mental age, were videotaped in naturalistic play sessions with their mothers. The microanalytic approach applied, focused on a qualitative axis (type of behavior), and a quantitative axis (duration of behaviors). Results demonstrated that children with ASD rarely initiate an episode of interaction with their mother, prefer solitary play and use less communicative behaviors. Overall, they exhibit an atypical rhythmic patter of interaction, which is interpreted by their deficient motive for intersubjective communication. KEYWORDS: autism spectrum disorder, rhythm, mother-child interaction, intersubjectivity, microanalysis INTRODUCTION Infants are born with an innate urge and ability to participate in human interactions (Trevarthen & Aitken 2001). Even a few weeks after birth, infants begin to communicate face-to-face with their caregiver and show a precocious sense of rhythm in the interactions with their mother. The early development of rhythmical interactions is based on physiological rhythms and the infant’s ability to perceive temporal regularities (Bobin-Begue, 2019). Rhythm enables anticipation and flow, and carries within it the intent of the interaction (Gill, 2012). Both rhythm and timing in early mother-child interaction play a fundamental role to the child’s social development (Bornstein & Bruner, 2014; Rabinowitch & Knafo-Noam, 2015) and provide a structure for temporal expectancies (Harrist & Waugh, 2002). During rhythmic interaction, infant and caregiver mirror each other’s behavior and emotion. Infants, like adults move with rhythmic gestures that express motive states and changes of emotion and mood (Trevarthen, 2008). The development of intentions, mutual reciprocity, and cooperative understanding of others’ intentions requires mother-child interactions that are