Deficits in social-emotional reciprocity - -abnormal social approach -failure of normal back-and-forth conversation -reduced sharing of interests, emotions, or affect -failure to initiate or respond to social interactions example of deficit of social-emotional reciprocity - he teacher tells students to find a partner to work with on a math activity. As students move around the classroom pairing up, Michelle, a student with autism, stands in the middle of the classroom looking at the other students. For this assignment, Michelle may be having difficulty with initiating social interactions. Deficits in nonverbal communicative behaviors used for social interaction - -poorly integrated verbal and nonverbal communication -abnormalities in eye contact and body language -deficits in understanding and use of gestures -lack of facial expressions -nonverbal communication Examples of nonverbal communication - shrugging shoulders when you don't know pointing at a picture in a book to show another person frowning when someone tells you sad news.