Promoting the Emotional Development of Young Children on the Spectrum Steven B. Glazier, MA Licensed Psychologist 3900 City Avenue, Suite 106 Philadelphia, PA (215) May 4, 2012

Consequences of Constricted Emotional Development in ASD Examples – SEPTA Hater – Emergency Room Visit – Depressed Parent – Airplane Phobic – Unrequited Love S. Glazier 2012

Assumptions These children have a rich inner life with thoughts and feelings like all children. It is difficult for caregivers to gain access to it due to the children’s subtle and difficult to read cues. Autism is primarily a disorder of output. Assume a typical child trapped in a body that makes it difficult to show what he/she is thinking. S. Glazier 2012

Assumptions (continued) They can grow to be warm, related individuals with the potential for a rich and fulfilling life, if we focus on the right things. S. Glazier 2012

Social Emotional Capacities: Ages 0-5 Attachment: Secure vs. Insecure (Bowlby) Functional Emotional Developmental Levels (Greenspan & Wieder) – Self Regulation – Engagement and Reciprocity – Social Problem Solving – Symbolic Capacities (imaginative play and language) – Logical and Emotional Thinking S. Glazier 2012

Barriers to Social Emotional Development in Young Children with ASD Neurobiological differences in the way sensory information is registered and processed lead to difficult to read behavioral cues. This leads to a derailment in the rich, emotionally laden reciprocal interactions which are crucial for brain development. Difficulties in co-regulation, secure attachment, sense of self and confidence S. Glazier 2012

Barriers to Social Emotional Development in Young Children with ASD (cont.) Children with severe disorders of relating and communicating feel a chronic sense of anxiety and lack of control. This can lead to interpersonal rigidity. What starts out as physical dysregulation may lead to emotional dysregulation as a child progresses. S. Glazier 2012

Strategies We need to do more than just teach our kids to recognize emotions in pictures of faces. This has only limited utility. Help caregivers and professionals better read the subtle cues (facial expressions, gestures, vocalizations, “words,” eye movements) of the children to make informed guesses about their ideas, thoughts and feelings. Parents know their children best. Greater parental insight is associated with more secure attachment in children with ASD (Oppenheim, et. al. 2009). S. Glazier 2012

More Strategies Let children show their ideas and intentions. Wait before we take over with our ideas (many have delayed processing times and motor planning challenges). Name and exaggerate negative and positive emotions in the children and yourself when they naturally occur. Necessary because of mirror neuron irregularities and dampered down processing. Don’t necessarily solve a problem too fast. Empathize with their emotional states. Adults cannot solve all problems. Leads to improved frustration tolerance. S. Glazier 2012

More Strategies Assume the children are having the feelings any child would have, even if they do not seem to show it (e.g., boo boos). Put yourself inside their heads at all times. Relationship-Building Dyadic and Small Group Play. Learn about the feelings of self and others in vivo. S. Glazier 2012

Pretend Play Crucial in the role of symbolizing emotions. Prior to this stage, children respond to emotions like they are a physiological reaction only. They are “slaves to the moment” (can go from 0-60 mph). Pretend play allows children to process typical emotional themes of their life (e.g., getting hurt, scared, separations, eating, sleeping issues) S. Glazier 2012

Pretend Play (continued) Imaginative play starts out simple (e.g., feeding baby, crashing cars) and progresses to complex dramas with rich emotional themes and conflict (e.g., pirate adventures, tea parties, playing house). An intermediate step to be able to talk about and reflect upon ones own feelings and those of others. S. Glazier 2012

Goals An emotionally well regulated child who can stay engaged across a range of emotions. A reflective child who understands his own inner world as well as those of others (Theory of Mind) A flexible thinker who is able to understand the complexity of social relationships. S. Glazier 2012

Final Thought “Join Them in Their World So We Can Gradually Pull Them Into A Shared World” (Stanley Greenspan) S. Glazier 2012

References Foley, G. (1986). Emotional Development of Children with Handicaps. In N.E. Curry (Ed.), The Feeling Child: Affective Development Reconsidered. Binghamton, NY: The Hawthorne Press. Greenspan, S. & Wieder, S. (1998). The Child with Special Needs. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley. Howlin, P., Baron-Cohen, S. & Hadwin, J. (1999). Teaching Children with Autism to Mind-Read. West Sussex, England: John Wiley & Sons. Oppenheim, D., Koren-Karie, N., Dolev, S., & Yirmiya, N. (2009). Maternal Insightfulness and resolution of the diagnosis are associated with secure attachments in preschoolers with ASD. Child Development. March-April; 80(2): Siegel, D. & Hartzell, M. (2003). Parenting from the Inside Out. New York: Penguin. S. Glazier 2012