Positive, negative, neutral—or unknown? The perceived valence of emotions expressed by young autistic children in a novel context suited to autism

Abstract

Starting early in life, autistics are characterized as having atypical facial expressions, as well as decreased positive and increased negative affect. The literature on autistic facial expressions remains small, however, with disparate methods and results suggesting limited understanding of common autistic emotions. Furthermore, unlike non-autistics’ emotions, autistics’ emotions have been assessed without considering this population’s characteristics. In this study, the valence of young children’s facial expressions was thus rated as positive, negative, neutral, or “unknown”—a term for perceived emotions observers do not understand. Facial expressions were assessed using the Montreal Stimulating Play Situation, a context incorporating potential autistic interests. Comparing 37 autistic and 39 typical young (27–56 months) age-matched children, we found no group differences in expressed positive, negative, and neutral emotions. We did find differences in unknown emotions, which were unique to the autistic group. Preliminary data also showed that autistic children’s repetitive behaviors co-occurred with positive, neutral, and unknown emotions, but not with negative emotions. In a novel context that considers their characteristics, we did not find decreased positive or increased negative emotions in young autistic children. Instead, they uniquely expressed emotions perceived as unknown, showing the need to improve our understanding of their full emotional repertoire. Lay abstract Autistic people are believed to have emotions that are too negative and not positive enough, starting early in life. Their facial expressions are also persistently judged to be unusual, as reflected in criteria used to identify autism. But it is possible that common autistic facial expressions are poorly understood by observers, as suggested by a range of findings from research. Another issue is that autistic emotions have always been assessed in contexts suited to non-autistics. In our study, the facial expressions of young autistic and typical children were rated as positive, negative, neutral, or “unknown”—a category we created for emotions that observers notice but do not understand. These emotions were assessed using a context suited to autistic children, including objects of potential interest to them. We found that in this context, autistic and typical children did not differ in positive, negative, or neutral facial emotions. They did differ in unknown emotions, which were found only in autistic children. We also found that repetitive behaviors in autistic children co-occurred with positive, neutral, and unknown emotions, but not with negative emotions. In a context which suits their characteristics, autistic children do not show emotions that are too negative or not positive enough. They do show emotions perceived as unknown, which means we need to improve our understanding of their full emotional repertoire.

Autism as emergent and transactional

“…Much has changed in the dialogue around autism in recent years and, within that, ADOS has been criticised (along with related nosological phenotypic definitions) for its normative and “deficit-focused” assumptions ( 23 ). Alternative measurement innovations have been proposed that aim to make less normative assumptions ( 24 ). These new approaches are in their early stages and may, indeed, prove transformative as they develop, but in the meantime, we need to address the concerns around the ADOS and the value of the corpus of results from it.…”

Análisis mediante inteligencia artificial de las emociones del alumnado autista en la interacción social con el robot NAO

“…Este aspecto también puede verse afectado por la tendencia que tienen estos estudiantes por fijarse en detalles de la cara y no en su globalidad (Walecka et al, 2022). Como consecuencia de lo expuesto, los autistas tienen emociones demasiado negativas y poco positivas desde una edad temprana (Jacques et al, 2022). Para estos autores, las expresiones faciales de los alumnos autistas se pueden considerar inusuales, como se refleja en los criterios utilizados para la identificación del autismo.…”

“…Para estos autores, las expresiones faciales de los alumnos autistas se pueden considerar inusuales, como se refleja en los criterios utilizados para la identificación del autismo. En este sentido, existen dos aspectos para Jacques et al, (2022) que influyen en la expresión de emociones en el alumnado con TEA. En primer lugar, que los observadores no comprenden en muchos casos las expresiones que utilizan de manera habitual estos niños.…”

Putting autism research in social contexts

“…One example of the decontextualized nature of autism research is the use of standardized, norm-referenced instruments to identify autistic “deficits.” Scores on these instruments are routinely interpreted without considering how autistic people interpret the administration context (e.g. whether they have an investment in showcasing their skills to an unfamiliar examiner) and the extent to which such instruments simply gauge conformity to neuro-normative, White, English-speaking, middle-class expectations and cognitive styles (Dawson et al, 2007; Jacques et al, 2022; Knoester & Au, 2017). Importantly, assessments are not context-free encounters that reveal an objective reality about autistic people’s social capabilities (Yu & Sterponi, 2023).…”