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Children suffering from pervasive developmental disorders (PDD) react to separation in various ways. Different studies have demonstrated that these children can build a differentiated attachment to their mother, who is their primary attachment figure. However, the links between attachment abilities and PDD are unclear: they can be described either in terms of disorder severity, cognitive abilities, language abilities, playing abilities, or mother sensitivity. This paper highlights these different interactions with a literature review. It also assesses certain attachment behaviors in children suffering from PDD during the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) at the Autism Resource Center in PACA (CRA PACA), using a separation-reunion sequence of the child and the parent. Eleven children with an average age of 44 months (ranging from 33 months to 64 months) were divided into two groups: one group with a high severity index (six children with a Child Autism Rating Scale score between 37 and 44), and another group with a low severity index (five children with a score between 30 and 36.5). The results show a difference in attachment behaviors depending on severity. There are more attachment behaviors in the non-severe group, and a tendency to develop more attachment behaviors between separation and reunion in the non-severe group. Individually though, the results are mixed: some children from the severe group had positive ratings for all the behaviors, whereas some children from the non-severe group showed few attachment behaviors. Attachment behaviors are altered in autism disorders, but not unequivocally.