Children with autism have a difficult time recognizing and regulating emotions. This makes having social awareness or making responsible decisions difficult as well. Social emotional learning (SEL) can help children with autism develop an awareness of emotions and build social relationships. Most children begin emotional development at birth with expressing emotions, reading facial expressions and continue to develop skills of empathy and relationship building as they grow. Children with autism have a harder time with this development which includes having a difficult time understanding their own emotions. Depending on where they are on the spectrum some children might be able to express their feelings but are unable to describe what it is they are feeling.

Autism and Expressing Emotions

Dr. Rebecca Shaffer at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital in Ohio conducted a research study to better understand emotional regulation for children with autism and emotion regulation difficulties. Past studies have shown that children (and adults) with autism have a more difficult time not only recognizing facial expressions but also displaying facial expressions to match “social expectations.” The expressions they may choose to use instead might not match what the child is actually feeling or might not express a particular feeling at all. As a result every day interactions can be difficult because not everyone will understand what these expressions or lack of expressions mean. SEL can help children understand how to recognize facial expressions (for example, do they pay more attention to certain areas of the face than others) as well as develop the vocabulary to express what they are feeling.  

Autism and the Challenge of Big Emotions

Anger and fear are two emotions that children with autism have a hard time recognizing even as they grow older. SEL can help children learn more about these emotions, how to express them, and find calming strategies that work for them. Encouraging emotional development should occur naturally in everyday interactions whether it be at home or school. Parents and teachers can acknowledge emotions as they occur. For example, in a classroom the teacher can point out when everyone is smiling as a result of feeling happy. Parents can also mirror positive emotions so their child can see not only the expression for themselves but also gain an understanding of empathy. Some research has shown the positive effects of using visual supports to guide emotional development. This is because children with autism respond better visually than they do by just listening. By using visual supports parents can communicate better with their children about their emotions. Autism Speaks provides a Visual Supports Toolkit  to help teach social skills and understand expectations. Another tool that can help children with autism is Wisdom: The World of Emotions, an evidence-based game that is visual and interactive. Children will begin to recognize and understand emotions thanks to universal design principles and adaptive learning.

How Wisdom Can Support Kids with Autism

Wisdom, as an interactive tool for visual support, can support the emotional development of children with autism. Children will learn to recognize emotions in themselves and others, and because they also know what it’s like to experience those emotions they can also empathize with others. They learn how to solve conflicts by having a different perspective and how to recognize their parents and teachers as a system of support when dealing with difficult emotions. For children with autism that respond well to a visual schedule they may also respond well to the “first, then” structure of helping the inhabitants of the Kingdom of Anger. First, the child will need to use a superpower, then they will need to use a reconciliation superpower. Children will be able to develop an understanding that regulating emotions can happen in steps. Additionally, Wisdom provides visuals of what these regulation tools look like.

The Augmented Reality (AR) feature on Wisdom can also help support kids with autism strengthen their social skills. AR helps children interact with the real world in a visually supportive way and increase engagement and curiosity. The AR feature in the Wisdom app superimposes the character Wisdom into the real world by simply using one’s device. AR can also improve attention and focus for kids with autism. As Wisdom guides kids through a breathing exercise participants can follow along with Wisdom’s verbal and nonverbal cues. By participating in this exercise with another individual, children with autism can increase social interaction. The exercise taught by Wisdom can be an exercise children find useful in their everyday lives. 

An 18-year old student who was introduced to Wisdom said she was diagnosed with autism when she was in 3rd grade. She explained that back then, she had the most difficult time at school when she felt scared because the facial expression she displayed for fear was that of boredom. Sometimes, when her teacher was losing patience with her class, she would give strict directions to everyone. That student would automatically display her "bored" face, entailing the teacher to raise her voice even more. But in fact, she was scared and no one knew. It took her years to learn how to read other people's facial expressions. She also had to practice adjusting her own facial expressions (with a mirror) so they could be properly read and interpreted by others. Today, she says she still struggles with fear because for anyone who is feeling scared, it’s really hard to stop and think "Oh wait. Let me adjust my facial expression so others will understand that I'm scared.” When she discovered Wisdom at age 18, her eyes opened wide and she exclaimed, "Oh my God, this would have helped me so much. It would have saved me so much time and effort in trying to figure out facial expressions and communicating my emotions.”

Addressing social emotional learning with children with special needs will take more time and will look differently than it does with other children. Better Kids is committed to supporting emotional growth in all children. Undergoing intense emotions is difficult and can be even more difficult for someone who struggles with communication and social interactions. Wisdom: The World of Emotions is an engaging and fun way for parents and kids to learn how to maintain focus, work and communicate effectively with others, and increase self-confidence.

For more tips and resources on Building Social Skills in Kids with Autism, you can view this webinar from Children’s Health Council.

A prior version of this article was originally published on March 31, 2020.