Expressions

[Brook]

Hi all,

 

not after info, just thought I'd post an observation

 

I've noticed that my son NEVER uses his forehead to express himself ie.. frowning, lifting eyebrows

in surprise etc.. I've always written in reports that he has difficulty understanding them and doesn't

use them.

 

I know 'some' ASD people have difficulty recognising facial expressions (I use the word 'some' because

I do not know if 'all' people do), but one thing that I have really noticed is my sons lack of facial expressions

around the eye and forehead area.

 

He will smile and laugh at things and chew the side of his lip when pondering something etc..

 

Anyone else noticed this??

 

Brook

[jb1964]

Brook,

 

I thought it was part and parcel of ASD - my daughter (she's 13) finds it extremely difficult to recognise facial expressions although we work on them all the time - she can pick up now on exaggerated facial expressions but not subtle - the only thing is that people don't usually exaggerate lots of facial expressions - and at this age now children are very full of facial/body gestures.

 

She also doesn't use subtle expressions like you say - with eyebrows etc - and if you prompt her to smile etc it is always over the top. The same with body language, gestures etc - she doesn't wave, or move relaxed (if you know what I mean).

 

Talking of understanding body language/expression things - I was kind of doing one the other day that kind of eye to the side nod of the head thing saying that if one of the girls in school said 'I need to go to the loo' and did this kind of thing what would it mean - she said she thought they'd have a nervous twitch - when I said it could mean she'd want you to go to the loo with her - she asked why? - I said she may want to tell you something - she said why couldn't she tell someone else then? - I then said well it maybe something personal or private that she didn't want anyone else to hear - she then said well 'why would she tell me'.

 

Take care,

Jb

[Brook]

jb,

 

your post made me think of my son when he has a photo taken, if you tell him to smile,

he bares his teeth but there is actually no smile, we call it the 'wallace' grin off wallace and gromit,

and it is also OTT.

 

Brook

[aro]

Oooo lil bat does that grimace thing!!! She can smile naturally so have to make her laugh for photos!

Mean to get her a mirror (SALT work on mouth movements for words) so she can practise.

 

Also no subtle expressions or body language.

Anna x

Edited July 24, 2006 by aro

[Zemanski]

prosopagnosia or face blindness means that Com can't see a full face.

 

it follows that he can't see an expression on a face and therefore can't read expressions unless they are very obvious and there are other clues to the person's feelings such as tears or a broad grin (he can see one feature at a time) or a loud angry voice.

 

he can read basic expressions in a photo or picture as he can see 2D images but he can't apply this in reality.

 

He has never seen his own face in full either so he doesn't know what it looks like when he is expressing emotion and so he tends to either under-express emotion or use characature faces (he needs exaggerated expression to be able to read others so I suspect he thinks he has to use exaggerated expressions to make sure others can read his emotion)

 

prosopagnosia is increasingly seen as common in people on the spectrum (one estimate is 1 in 3 people with an ASC) - for some, like Com, it is a severe condition, for others it can be at a lower level or have slightly different characteristics. Some can see the face but not retain an image so it affects recognition of identity more than emotion, poor old Com has both aspects.

 

if you think your child may be affected by this condition it is worth checking - as a first step ask them to keep their eyes on your nose and then tell you what they can see of your face, Com sees the nose but the rest fades to black, he can focus only on one feature at a tie. Some see features as distorted/fragmented or may not see features at all.

 

http://www.prosopagnosia.com - a good introduction

 

prosopagnosia can be treated with coloured lenses - Com can see 2/3 of a face with his glasses

 

Zemanski

[Suze]

This is a really interesting thread.My son frowns an awful lot, he can look very scarey and thunderous .He can also be manically happy and hyper .One thing I have noticed also is how different he looks in photos, if you ask him to smile for a photo he will never look at the camera and always looks off into the distance or down at the floor.He finds it impossible to smile without grinning like a wide mouthed frog.I now tend to catch him unawares .....

[phasmid]

Nearly every photo we have of phas jr taken when he knew we taking it has a slighty OTT expression of one sort or another. We also have to sneak up on him to get a 'natural' look.

[aro]

I wonder about lil bats recognition skills sometimes, she seems unable to easily identify friend in photos (ok with family) I'm guessing this is because she doesn't look at her peers? Also SALT noticed that although she can make a sound correctly audibly, she is making the wrong mouth shape so struggles sometimes, SALTs theory is that lil bat is not watching faces enough to see how we make the sounds. Hence the reason for buying a mirror so she can see her mouth.

Anna x