Emotion Development in Autism

From the earliest descriptions, children with autism have been described as presenting with differences in emotional expression and regulation. However, autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnostic criteria do not include these emotional differences. More recently, research has begun to investigate the emotional impairments observed in individuals with ASD across the life span, including how it contributes to a range of poor outcomes. Atypical emotion development can be used to differentiate those at risk for ASD from typically developing children. Research has also identified differences in emotional awareness, expression, recognition, and regulation among children and adults with ASD. Priority areas for future research, such as longitudinal studies of emotion dysregulation beginning in early childhood; development of interventions targeting emotion awareness, recognition, and expression; and study and treatment of emotion dysregulation among adults, will be discussed.