Recognition of immaturity and emotional expressions in blended faces by children with autism and other developmental disabilities.
Autistic children miss both baby-like features and emotions, especially when faces are subtle or upside-down—so start with strong, upright examples in social lessons.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team showed kids photos of faces. Some faces looked baby-like. Others showed happy, sad, or mad feelings. Each photo was also shown upside-down.
They asked three groups: kids with autism, kids with other delays, and kids with typical development. The children pointed to the answer that best matched the face.
What they found
Children with autism named fewer baby faces and fewer emotions than the other groups. When the photo was flipped, every group had trouble with baby faces. Only the autism group had extra trouble reading emotions in upside-down faces.
How this fits with other research
Kuusikko et al. (2009) saw the same emotion gap in older youth, so the problem does not simply fade with age. Root et al. (2017) zoomed in and found the gap is biggest when anger is subtle, not strong.
Olsson et al. (2001) seems to disagree. They saw no emotion gap in preschoolers when the faces moved in slow motion. The key difference is age and motion. Static photos challenge school-age kids, while slow-motion clips help toddlers.
Song et al. (2016) and Åsberg Johnels et al. (2017) add why the gap happens: autistic kids scan the eyes and mouth differently, especially for fear and happy faces.
Why it matters
If you run social-skills groups, do not assume a child can read mild or upside-down feelings. Use clear, high-intensity photos first. Add video clips or slow-motion faces for younger learners. Teach clients to check both the eyes and the mouth. These small tweaks can make emotion lessons stick.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The recognition of facial immaturity and emotional expression by children with autism, language disorders, mental retardation, and non-disabled controls was studied in two experiments. Children identified immaturity and expression in upright and inverted faces. The autism group identified fewer immature faces and expressions than control (Exp. 1 & 2), language disordered (Exp. 1), and mental retardation (Exp. 2) groups. Facial inversion interfered with all groups' recognition of facial immaturity and with control and language disordered groups' recognition of expression. Error analyses (Exp. 1 & 2) showed similarities between autism and other groups' perception of immaturity but differences in perception of expressions. Reasons for similarities and differences between children with and without autism when perceiving facial immaturity and expression are discussed.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2008 · doi:10.1007/s10803-007-0391-3