Parent-child verbal interactions are among the most critical factors influencing the conversational behavior of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In this study, we investigated the frequency and sequential patterns of conversational behavior between children with ASD aged 3 - 6 years (n = 40) and their mothers in natural situations. The findings showed that mothers of Chinese children with ASD had 2.06 times more directive utterances than language-modeling utterances. The dominant child behaviors were answers, non-answer, and idiosyncratic conversations. In addition, when mothers used directive utterances, the conversational atmosphere was relatively tense, and it received more non-answer and idiosyncratic conversations along with responses from the children or even diversions to new topics. When mothers used language-modeling utterances, the conversational atmosphere was relatively relaxed, and children’s responses were more varied and freer of idiosyncratic conversations.
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