Mimicry as a tool for early screening of Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abstract

This is a theoretical paper in which we address the question of mimicry, one type of imitation behavior, in the first year of life through a phenomenological perspective. We conceptualize imitation in the first year of life with an emphasis on intentionality and argue that there are two types of imitation phenomena in infants: non-intentional and intentional imitation. As a conclusion, we generate the hypothesis as to whether mimicry could be used to the screening of Autism Spectrum Disorders so that it does not rely solely on questionnaires or expensive structured interviews.