A latest study about autistic people recognising facial expressions and emotions has been published at https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1056499320300183?via%3Dihub. It is quite a big study! I am going to tweet my thoughts on it in a Twitter thread. #ActuallyAutistic https://twitter.com/ZebraW2015/status/1249984652791689217

Here's a useful point to pick out to start with, "Autistic individuals have difficulties recognizing neurotypical facial expressions and vice versa". I absolutely agree, I find it difficult to recognise facial expressions in neurotypical people. That is absolutely correct.

The study begins by defining autism as "a neurodevelopmental disorder, characterized by restricted and repetitive interests and difficulties with social communication and interaction." Yes, this definition is mostly correct but the use of "disorder" may have negative connotations

For me, I would define "autism" as a "different way that the brain processes and functions". The term "ASD" uses the word "disorder"; I preferably use the word "autism" more often than "ASD".

Next, the study goes on to say "Earlier research suggested that autistic people lack certain social abilities (including emotion recognition)". In my experience of being #ActuallyAutistic, that is absolutely correct.

"Autism research is now shifting towards an emphasis on the differences in certain abilities between autistic and neurotypical people"
This may be true when talking about autism research but my focus is for neurotypical people to understand autism and #AutismAcceptance.

"an autistic person might move their face into an expression that is not the downturned mouth expression that most neurotypical individuals would adopt"
Absolutely correct, I express sadness in a different way; I don't use the downturned mouth expression. #ActuallyAutistic

Sometimes, I hide sadness which is not good but that is the way I do it. #ActuallyAutistic

The study then goes on to say "a neurotypical person might not recognize that the autistic person is feeling sad". To be honest, if I hidden sadness in myself and didn't express it, it would be impossible for anyone to recognise that I was sad. #ActuallyAutistic

"because the neurotypical person expresses their sadness in a different way from the autistic person, the autistic individual might not recognize the neurotypical individual’s sadness"
The way #autistic people express feelings and neurotypical people express feelings differ.

As an #ActuallyAutistic person, I find it very difficult to express my feelings and understand other people's feelings.

By the way, I am only picking out the parts of the study which I understand and I am giving my thoughts on them.I am leaving the parts of the study which I don't understand alone. Some of it is very complicated. #ActuallyAutistic

That is the first section of analysing this big study done. I now move onto section 2 which is "Facial Emotion Expression".

"during naturalistic social interactions autistic children typically display facial expressions less often and for a shorter duration compared with non-autistic children"
I absolutely agree; it is very difficult for me to express feelings in social situations. #ActuallyAutistic

"Autistic individuals may execute expressions that are visually different (ie, using different parts of their face)"
To be honest, I have different ways of expressing feelings. Sometimes, I use my hands, parts of my face or my own reactions. #ActuallyAutistic

"compared with non-autistic children, those with ASD mimic facial expressions less accurately (ie, with lower congruency)"
This study points out difficulties which autistic people face in expressing their feelings but it is important so that neurotypicals understand autism better

I do agree with the statement above. It is very difficult for an #ActuallyAutistic person like me to mimic other people's facial expressions.