Reciprocal social interaction, the process of reading, understanding, initiating, and responding to the social cues of others, is a core deficit and hallmark symptom for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Research at Kennedy Krieger Institute has found that these social deficits can be identified as early as 14 months of age, well before communication deficits and stereotyped behaviors typically appear. This suggests that deficiencies in social interaction lie at the heart of these conditions and may even contribute to language delays and problem behaviors. Children with High Functioning Autism (HFA) and Asperger syndrome have unique social challenges because they often look and act like "typical kids" in many situations. Their language skills are, by definition, pretty good, and they achieve, or even over-achieve, in learning basic academic concepts. This can generate increased expectations among family members, teachers, and peers who assume that affected children will also be able to understand the rules of social interaction. Unfortunately, these children rarely meet these expectations, but recent research has led to a greater understanding of this core deficit and is being translated into evidence-based interventions. With the recent advancements in knowledge generated by this research, it has been shown that some children with HFA and AS can show remarkable improvements in their social and problem-solving skills, and many more can benefit from effective interventions to a smaller but still significant extent. Hopefully, research will continue to provide insights into the conditions that cause autism and generate the data needed to design even more effective, evidence-based interventions, helping all affected children realize the goals and aspirations that they and their families dream of achieving.