Emotional responsivity in children with autism, children with other developmental disabilities, and children with typical development.

Researchers watched how kids copied adult emotions. They compared children with autism, kids with other delays, and typically developing peers.

The team measured facial mimicry and how often each child caught the adult's feeling.

Children with autism showed flatter faces and caught emotions less often than both other groups.

Their emotional echo was muted and rare, not absent, just weaker.

Begeer et al. (2010) saw the same weak emotional transfer in younger kids, so the pattern starts early.

Song et al. (2018) narrowed the gap: autistic kids need anger, disgust, and fear faces to be extra strong before they notice them.

Two papers seem to clash. Castelli (2005) and Fink et al. (2014) found no emotion-recognition deficit once verbal skill was matched. The tasks differ: those studies used still photos and controlled for language; J et al. used live adult displays and looked at mimicry, not just naming.

Georgopoulos et al. (2022) updates the story: by adulthood the gap almost disappears, suggesting the child deficit can shrink with age or practice.

Spot flat mimicry during play or table work—it flags social-emotional targets. Pair feeling words with exaggerated facial cues, especially for anger and fear. Track progress over years; the skill can grow.