Question 3: Clinical examples

Provide 3 clear examples of clinical situations in which your treatment approach is challenged by a child’s reduced or inavailability to process emotion and facial features.

When working with a student on a task, for example handwriting, and they do not want to complete the task, I usually offer a reward or try to make it “fun”.  Sometimes, the student still becomes frustrated with the task and difficulty attending and therefore will run away or act out.  If this child could process emotion typically, I would show the child I am upset with my facial expression and tell them to sit down. However, this does not work with children who cannot understand what my expression means or why I am having an “angry” or “disappointed” emotion. I have to come up with a different way to control the behavior this child, which we have discussed throughout our modules.

When trying to get a student to try a new task that may be difficult for them, for example, use shaving cream to write letters.  Usually, I would act excited for the child to try the new sensory texture and smile and say how much “fun” it is going to be, but if the student does not process the smile and happiness, this is not a valid way to prep the activity. 

When on a swing if the child starts to tip the swing and do anything unsafe, I usually will say “stop!” with a little fear and some sternness in my voice, however, if the child does not understand my look of fear and the “fear” in my voice, they might stop the action as quickly. With my other students, they understand this and don’t do this again, but with these students, I have to come up with a different approach.

Working in groups is also more challenging.  Usually working in a group, I might have the children play a competitive fine motor game; this type of play means understanding when someone wins/loses to be kind to them and involves lots of social interaction. However, when working with two children and one does not understand emotion, I will start off with parallel play, then turn taking and then a competitive game

I often use my “happiness” as a reward for the student, for example, after they complete a task saying good job with a big smile can be a big enough reward, however, with a child who has difficulty understanding emotion, this would not be the best reward, a tangible item would have better results.