My aim in this paper is to present reasons for adopting a focus on the development of self/other-awareness when characterizing the developmental psychopathology of autism. The strengths of such a position include an emphasis on children's emotional relations with embodied persons as foundational for their growing understanding of minds. I give special attention to the process of identifying with the attitudes of others, and experience of other-person-centred emotions, for the development of communication and thinking. The study of limitations in these aspects of self-other relatedness among individuals with autism is pivotal for understanding the pathogenesis of the syndrome.