Self-facial expression recognition training for children with autism spectrum disorders can improve their other-facial expression recognition

Previous studies found that exposure to self-facial expressions (SFE) facilitated recognition of other-facial expressions (OFE) in typical individuals. However, this effect is unclear for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study designed an SFE recognition training curriculum and employed a nonconcurrent multiple probe-baseline design across participants to assess the effects of training on SFE recognition directly and OFE recognition indirectly in three low-functioning children with ASD aged 8-9 years. With the gradual improvement of SFE recognition during training, the performance of children with ASD in OFE recognition increased slightly. In addition, the training and maintenance effects of SFE and OFE recognition were strong across participants. This result suggested that SFE recognition training was beneficial for OFE recognition in children with ASD and should be included in OFE training programs in the future.