Parent-Child Reminiscing: Relationships between Parent Elaborations, Emotion Talk and Memory Contributions of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

How parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) engage their children in reminiscing about the past was investigated in a sample of 12 children with ASD and 12 matched typically developing children. Analysis of parent elaboration styles and emotion talk during reminiscing revealed no significant differences between parents of children with ASD and parents of typically developing children. The elaboration style and emotion talk of parents of children with ASD was associated with their children's memory contributions and emotion talk during conversations. The discussion addresses why the social and language difficulties, characteristic of ASD, may not have impacted on parent-child reminiscing. It considers this specifically in relation to the role that parents of children with ASD play in 'scaffolding' their children through the critical developmental process of parent-child reminiscing.