Understanding facial impressions makes social interactions between people easier. It is one of the ways we understand other people’s feelings, emotional expressions, and intentions.
Autistic people often find it hard to read the tiny clues that a facial emotion expression gives – things like tone of voice, posture, and gestures. The root of the problem might lie in the different ways that autistic children process spontaneous facial expressions. Autistic brains tend to take in all the details present in a scene, and this can make it hard to focus on facial expressions specifically.
You may use flashcards with facial expressions to help the child better understand and identify emotions. These flashcards might include facial expressions on a character or real-life pictures. For children on autism spectrum disorder, they may benefit from practicing with real-life pictures on flashcards. This allows them to recognize human facial expressions for each emotion.
Role-playing is another great way to help children with autism spectrum disorders understand facial expressions.
Personally, we use louder expressions to teach Rewansh. The autistic brain may not pick all details of his environment or of the scene, but it may pick the evident loud expression given while maintaining eye contact.
There are many ways that you can help your child with autism learn about subtle expressions. It is important to be patient and to find activities that are comfortable for them. Keep in mind that every autistic child is different, so what works for one might not work for another. Be creative and have fun while teaching your child about facial expressions.