Autistic children look less friendly to peers, Cambridge research suggests

Children with autism face a lifetime of social exclusion due to the very nature of their facial expressions, a new study has shown.

The research, published in the journal Autism, suggests that typically developed children form negative impressions of autistic children after just a 30-second encounter, which can potentially ostracise them from an early age.

Dr Steven Stagg, a lecturer in psychology at Anglia Ruskin, believes this research shows the need for greater social cohesion between autistic and typically developed” children, and more crucially, a better focus interpersonal skills between the two groups rather than solely on the former.

The researchers from Anglia Ruskin and Royal Holloway mixed silent videos of typically developing 11-year-olds with videos of children with autism of a similar age. 

They then asked 44 school children, aged 11, to rate the children in the video, who were unaware that some of the children they were watching had a diagnosis of autism.

Children with a diagnosis of autism were rated less trustworthy, and the watchers said they were less likely to want to play with them and to be their friend.

Dr Stagg said: “One of the key things we found with this research was that there was a difference between the children’s facial expressions and their general expressiveness.

“Typically developed children had a more subtle range of expressions, while an autistic child’s face tended to have more exaggerated expressions. 

“Poor expressivity has been documented in autism, but our research demonstrates that this can have a significant impact on forming first impressions.

“Children with autism spend many years learning about facial expressivity, but our research shows that by the age of 11 their slower development in this area is already marking them out amongst their typically developing peers.”

But, Dr Stagg believes this research emphasises the need to promote inter-social skills in both typically developed and autistic children, rather than separating them and trying to “fix” the autistic children’s development.

He said: “You don’t say to a person in a wheelchair, you need to try walking, and so you shouldn’t try to make autistic children be someone they cannot physically be.

“Instead we should concentrate on the typically developing children. If they are in a position to interact with disabled children from a young age then we could improve their attitudes.

“According to the Department for Education, 71 per cent of children with an autism diagnosis are currently educated in mainstream schools. It is therefore important that schools work with typically developing children to educate them about autism, in order to break through the negative impressions that can be formed through a moment’s contact.”

Alan Bicknell, deputy chief executive at the charity Autism Anglia, echoed Dr Stagg’s research.

He said: “I would agree that children at a young age tend generally to be more accepting, though that can sometimes have the opposite affect when they reach secondary school and then may start to say unkind things.

“We need to remember that 40-50 years ago, children with disabilities were locked away in institutions. As a society, we have had to get used to having them in the community again. Interaction between the groups at a younger age may therefore be a positive thing.”

Source : Cambridge News , 28th October 2013