This study explains how affective connection is crucial to typical child development and is used in autistic children interventions. Using a developmental approach, which seeks to understand the development of autistic children compared to the typical child development, the article aims at highlighting the importance of affective connection in developmental interventions. We reviewed the developmental literature, considering how human infant's ability of affective connection contributes to child development. This failure in the development of autistic children produces important impairments. Thus, we review the programs SCERTS and DIR in order to understand how they consider affective connection. The conclusion is that these programs, although seeking the overall development of autistic children, have limitations: in relation to the understanding of affective connection as a precursor of child's development (SCERTS) and in the search of objective strategies to develop it on these children (DIR). However, observations about research and developmental literature suggest that such limitations can be overcomed provided that the role of affective connection to decrease the deviation of autistic children development is stressed.
Affective connection; Developmental approach; Early intervention; Autistic disorder