In present study a mobile application for teaching facial expression recognition and production skills to children with autism spectrum disorders was developed and experimentally tested. The experiment had an input-process-output design where the “process” stage was a training phase consisted of 12 individual sessions lasting 35 to 45 minutes. Nineteen children with ASD from age 6 to 12, 17 boys and 2 girls participated in the study. Subjects were separated into two groups that differed in the type of intervention. The first group (n=13) participated in the training with the tablet PC. The second group (n=6) participated in the study without any devices. Analysis of input and output data on emotion recognition skills showed improvement in anger, fear, surprise, disgust, but not in sadness and happiness (Wilcoxon-test, p≤0,01). The analysis of the input and output data on the facial expressions production skill showed the effectiveness of the training (Wilcoxon-test, p≤0,05). There was a significant advantage of the group participated in the training with the tablet PC over the second group (Mann-Whitney test, p≤0,05). The use of the tablet PC application gives an advantage in the development of the facial expression production skill in children with ASD and has equal effectiveness with conventional training method in the development of emotion recognition skills.

Emotions. Autism: a mobile application for teaching facial expression recognition and production skills to children with autism spectrum disorders