A Comparison of Emotional Facial Display by Children with Autism and Typical Preschoolers

by Gail McGee, Robert Feldman and Leslie Chernin ( 1991), Jr. of Early Intervention, 15, 237-245.

“However, there were marked differences in the situational contexts in which the two groups displayed various facial expressions. While typical children tended to show happiness when interacting with a teacher or peer, children with autism showed happiness while playing by themselves. Differences also were found in the expression of anger; anger occurred in the typical children most often in the presence of other children, while the angry expressions of the children with autism were produced in situations involving adults. There were, however, no differences in the eliciting situations for sadness.” (p.243).