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Interpreting body language is no problem for kids with autism

AGXStarseed

Well-Known Member
(Not written by me)

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Children with autism can read emotions in body language (Image: Chang Liu/Corbis)


The eyes may be windows to the mind, but for children with autism, the body is the better communicator. They are just as good at reading emotions in body language as those without autism.

The finding challenges the commonly held notion that children with autism have difficulty reading emotions. This may have arisen from studies focusing on whether people with the condition can interpret emotions from just the face or eyes, says Candida Peterson at the University of Queensland in Australia.

“Looking at a face is in itself a problem,” says Peterson. “Autistic children and adults don’t like making eye contact,” she adds, as this requires a close encounter with another person. Reading body language, by contrast, can be done from a distance.

In the study, children aged 5 to 12 were shown photos of adults with blurred faces posing in ways to convey happiness, sadness, anger, fear, disgust and surprise. Those with autism were just as good as those without at recognising the emotions.

But this is only part of the picture. People with autism also have difficulty changing their behaviour in response to others’ emotions, says Julie Grezes at INSERM’s Laboratory of Cognitive Neurosciences in Paris, France.

When most people recognise that someone is experiencing a certain emotion, they are able to put themselves in their place to understand why they might be feeling that way. People with autism are known to struggle with this. Now we know that they can read body language, says Peterson, we can look for ways to help them link certain cues to what the other person might be thinking and feeling.

She and her colleagues now plan to test how good children with autism are at reading body language cues in real-life interactions, in particular when they are faced with individuals in extremely emotional states.

Journal reference: Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, doi.org/6dp


SOURCE: https://www.newscientist.com/articl...-language-is-no-problem-for-kids-with-autism/
 
I also feel that it's an attention issue. When I'm talking to someone, I'm processing a lot of information - I'm a visual thinker, and I need to picture what the person is saying in my mind in oder to grasp what they are saying, and if I'm speaking, I need to sift through a lot of pictures and other information, and then convert it into words to express myself. I literally can't see them and don't notice their body language or facial expression when this is taking place, so it's no wonder I don't pick up on the so-called social cues. Even if I do notice a cue, it takes me a while to retrieve the right response from the mental databank, so my response is delayed, not natural and instinctive.
 
The entire body speaks, that's true. Love that they finally tested this hypothesis. I had assumed they already had, but obviously I was wrong.
 
My problem is definitely one of cognition and reaction. I can tell when people are happy or upset, but I have no idea how to feel myself, or what to do about it. It breaks my heart.
 
Interpreting body language is a problem for everyone, because it's mostly inaccurate. There are several reasons I might not be meeting your gaze, and one of them is the amount of noise in my head that looking back into your eyes causes. I will cross my legs because I have some nerve damage, although a "body linguist" will assume I'm withholding.

Facial microexpressions are more accurate, because they're about the emotions that react before the consciousness occludes them. And they aren't reliable either, because if you don't process your own emotions fast enough, your face won't move when it's "supposed" to.

It helps suppress tells in poker, bridge, and negotiations. So, that's one communications problem I'm not sorry to have, because it can be an advantage.
 

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