Learning Facial Expressions

A child's ability to identify the emotional facial expressions of others is an essential part of establishing interpersonal relationships. A study performed in 2015 found that children on the autism spectrum could discern emotional facial expressions when given additional prompting to classify the emotions properly. During the study, children with autism looked at photos and practiced pinpointing emotions in various circumstances. For instance, researchers asked participants to match the appropriate emotion photo with a relevant setting photo (i.e., a girl playing on the playground paired with a happy face) accompanied by different degrees of prompting. The results of this study indicate that individuals on the autism spectrum can learn to identify simple, common emotional expressions given plenty of practice and adequate prompting.

Social Star Academy's Feelings Memory Game helps children on the autism spectrum practice matching some of the most common facial expressions with the proper emotion. The child will learn to identify subtle cues in a person's facial expression that indicates a particular emotion. As well as practice expressing their emotions.

You can download the Feelings Memory Game for free here.

Resources

Rump, K., Giovannelli, J., Minshew, N., & Strauss, M. (2009). The Development of Emotion Recognition in Individuals With Autism. Child Development, 80(5), 1434-1447. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2009.01343.x

Salvatore, K. (2020). Helping Children with Autism to Communicate & Recognize Emotions [Blog]. Retrieved from http://blog.stageslearning.com/blog/teaching-children-with-autism-about-emotions