Autistic Kids Process Faces Differently: Give Patience, Not Punishment

Autistic kids (and adults) can’t help it if they struggle to process faces or get distracted by eye contact. These aren’t things that can be learned like arithmetic. Science clearly shows this.

A large study of autistic kids has found differences in how their brains process faces.

Researchers also discovered that these responses develop differently with age, offering new clues about the neurological aspects of face perception in autism.

Published in Nature Mental Health, the research examined nearly 400 autistic children using a more comprehensive approach to measuring brain activity than many earlier studies have done.

Some autistic people look at faces less often, find eye contact uncomfortable, or have difficulty recognizing faces and interpreting expressions.

For example, my autistic self finds it very distracting to keep my eyes on someone’s face, let alone maintain direct eye contact, while I’m explaining something to them.

It doesn’t feel natural and requires conscious effort, which is why I often just end up gazing off to the side — which feels more natural.

Scientists have studied these differences for decades, including research showing reduced activity in certain brain regions involved in face processing.

The researchers wanted to examine the brain’s responses more broadly.

They used electroencephalography (EEG), which measures electrical activity through sensors placed on the scalp.

Earlier studies often focused on signals from only a few recording locations.

This research analyzed information from all 128 electrodes, providing a more complete picture of brain activity.

The researchers used data from the Autism Biomarkers Consortium for Clinical Trials.

The kids viewed pictures of faces and everyday objects while their brain activity was recorded.

The results showed that face-related brain activity was less distinct in autistic subjects than in non-autistic participants.

Face processing also developed differently.

Among non-autistic children, brain responses to faces became increasingly specialized as they grew older.

The same developmental pattern was not observed in autistic subjects.

This suggests that the brain’s processing of faces follows a different developmental course in autism.

The study also identified differences that appeared earlier than researchers had previously recognized.

Earlier research often focused on a brain response called N170, which occurs approximately 170 milliseconds after someone sees a face.

Studies have found that this response tends to happen later in autistic people.

By examining a broader range of brain activity, the researchers found differences emerging even before the N170 response.

Impact of the Results

In the past, some approaches attempted to address these differences by encouraging or requiring eye contact.

However, forcing eye contact is not necessarily helpful. It can be distracting for some autistic individuals, whether they’re the speaker or the listener.

Some autistic individuals have even stated that they can get so distracted with maintaining eye contact that they miss a lot of what is being spoken to them.

The researchers point out that not every autistic person experiences difficulties with face perception, struggles with eye contact or needs intervention.

For those who do have a challenge with recognizing faces, interpreting expressions or “doing” eye contact, support introduced during childhood will be useful.

Parents should NEVER punish or scold an autistic child for not giving eye contact or incorrectly reading a facial expression.

The findings are an early step rather than a ready-to-use diagnostic test.

Further research will be needed to establish whether these EEG patterns can reliably distinguish autistic individuals or guide clinical decisions.

Lorra Garrick is a former personal trainer certified by the American Council on Exercise. At Bally Total Fitness, where she was also a group fitness instructor, she trained clients of all ages and abilities for fat loss and maintaining it, muscle and strength building, fitness, and improved cardiovascular and overall health. She has a clinical diagnosis of ASD.