Introduction. One of the characteristic behaviors of children with autism is the lack of development of eye contact and interest in the human face. An American psychologist, A. Meltzoff, proved that newborns had a primitive ability to imitate the facial movements of their caregivers. This skill is associated with the innate activity of mirror neurons. However, the inborn ability to imitate plays a very important role in further social development. Aim. The aim of the study was to check the relationship between the lack of mirroring in the neonatal period and autism spectrum disorders in the further development of the child. Material and methods. The study covered a randomly selected group of 350 newborns. From this group, ten newborns that did not show mirroring reactions were selected and a control group was created from 20 randomly selected newborns that showed mirroring reactions. The family and health situation in both groups was then compared in order to detect the factors that might affect the mirroring reaction. The research method was a diagnostic survey with a structured interview technique supplemented by analysis of medical records. To check the development of children in both groups at 18 months of age, "Diagnosis cards of 10 stages of child development from 4 to 36 months of age" by J. Cieszynska, M. Korendo were used. Statistical analysis: IBM SPSS Statistics, chi-quadrant independence test (p < 0.05). Results and conclusions. Most of the measured compounds are statistically insignificant. Relationship between the lack of mirroring reactions and: age of mothers and fathers (p = 0,939); education of mothers (p < 0.05) and fathers ( p = 0.797); high-risk pregnancy (p = 0,784); prematurity (p = 1.000); type of birth (p = 0.823); state of health of the newborn (p = 0,823). However, the study of children in the 18th month of life confirmed the existing correlation between the lack of mirroring reactions in the neonatal period and further development towards autism.

Key words: autism, imitation, mirroring reaction, mirror neurons, development.