Reminiscing and Autobiographical Memory in ASD: Mother-Child Conversations About Emotional Events and How Preschool-Aged Children Recall the Past.

Faught et al. (2021) watched moms talk with their preschoolers about past emotional events.

Half the kids had autism, half were typical.

The team coded how moms asked questions and how specific the children’s memories were.

Kids with autism gave fewer clear details about their past.

Moms who asked open, wh- questions (“What did we do next?”) had kids who remembered more.

Closed yes/no questions did not help.

Pilgrim et al. (2000) already showed autistic children recall their own actions worse than peers’ actions.

Faught et al. (2021) adds that mom’s open questions can shrink this self-memory gap.

Hsu et al. (2017) used an avatar interviewer and also boosted memory, proving support can come from people or computers.

Hall (2010) review said social-communication limits shrink the psychological self; the new study shows one concrete fix—elaborative chat.

You can coach parents in one session.

Tell them to ask “What, where, how” instead of “Did you like it?” during car rides or snack time.

More open questions now may build richer life stories later.