Visuo-motor imitation (VMI) impairments are central to the pathogenesis and affect the treatment of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Therapies most commonly used to enhance social, communicative, academic, adaptive and occupational function in individuals with ASD rely on imitation, and impairments in VMI represent a bottleneck to the efficiency and efficacy of these therapies. Furthermore, an influential psychological account suggests that imitation impairments lead to the development of the ASD phenotype. By studying how VMI is impaired in ASD children, we have the potential both to alter the course of the disorder itself. Unfortunately, we currently know little about the precise nature of imitation impairments in ASD. In order to optimize common adaptive and social-communicative skill therapies, the next step is to tease apart where, in the chain from perception to action, the capacity limitation in simultaneous processing lies.