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Autism is a spectrum of conditions that primarily disrupt the development of interpersonal comprehension. We suggest that differences in behavior, emotion, or brain function are downstream effects of impairments in primary or secondary intersubjectivity. Several research projects have shown that the lack of intersubjective behaviors is the best way to distinguish children with autism from those with normal development during the first year of life. According to new findings on biological maturation of the brain after birth, it is supposed that these difficulties do not allow the neurological experience-dependent system to develop in autism. In this paper we consider early dyadic interactions observed in the home movies of children later diagnosed with autism, of sequential maternal approach and infants’ responses to these approaches. We hypothesize that children with autism show fewer contingent responses to their mothers than non-autistic children, and that episodes of contingency are a function of the type of approach used by the caregiver. It is supposed that more contingent behaviors occur when the caregiver approach is high in intensity and rich in non-verbal behaviors, like that used in "mother-ese." "Mother-ese" is supposed to play an important role in creating interactive sequences, which are the expression of new cortical and sub-cortical networks in brain development. When these connections are not properly formed early in life, a variety of resulting effects may occur. This article suggests that the unification of the different levels of analysis proposed can contribute to a better understanding of the development of sociability and offer new ideas for prevention and therapy related to the core deficits of autism.