Attachment in toddlers with autism and other developmental disorders.

The team watched the toddlers play with a parent in a short lab task called the Strange Situation.

Half the kids had autism, developmental delay, or intellectual disability. The rest were typically developing.

Trainers coded each child as secure, avoidant, or disorganized after two brief separations and reunions.

Only 22 % of the autism group showed secure attachment, compared with 61 % of the typical group.

More than half the autism toddlers fell into the disorganized pattern—higher heart rate and frozen behavior.

The worse the autism traits, the lower the chance of any organized, calm reunion with the parent.

Marcu et al. (2009) followed similar kids into preschool and found that organized—secure or not—mattered more than security alone for symbolic play.

Together the papers show: early disorganization lingers and spills into later learning, not just feelings.

Anbar et al. (2024) looked at the same age group but tracked joint attention and language; they predict school-age pragmatics, while A et al. spotlight parent-child stress patterns.

All three studies line up: toddler social markers—attachment, joint attention, play—set the stage for later communication.

If a toddler with autism shows frozen, erratic reunion behavior, the attachment system is overwhelmed.

You can add brief parent coaching—calm voice, steady gaze, labeled praise—to turn reunions into safe rewards.

These micro-changes lower stress physiology and may open the door to better language and play gains later.