Art Therapy

Journal of the American Art Therapy Association

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Recognizing Emotions: Testing an Intervention for

Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders

Donna Abely Richard, William More & Stephen P. Joy

To cite this article: Donna Abely Richard, William More & Stephen P. Joy (2015) Recognizing
Emotions: Testing an Intervention for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders, Art Therapy, 32:1,
13-19, DOI: 10.1080/07421656.2014.994163

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 Art Therapy: Journal of the American Art Therapy Association, 32(1) pp. 13–19, © AATA, Inc. 2015
Recognizing Emotions: Testing an Intervention
for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders
Donna Abely Richard, William More, and Stephen P. Joy
Abstract
A severely impaired capacity for social interaction is one of
the characteristics of individuals with autism spectrum disorder
(ASD). Deficits in facial emotional recognition processing may
be associated with this limitation. The Build-a-Face (BAF) art
therapy intervention was developed to assist with emotional
recognition through the viewing and manipulating of three-
dimensional facial features on a mannequin-like bust. This
pilot study tested the abilities of 19 children with ASD to
identify emotions depicted in facial photographs before and
after a single BAF intervention session. The results indicated
no statistically significant difference between the treatment and
control groups; however, the treatment group had greater
improvement than the control. Future research involving
multiple BAF sessions is needed to test the effectiveness of BAF
for promoting emotion recognition.
Introduction
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD), also known as perva-
sive developmental disorder, is a diagnostic category consist-
ing of four separate disorders: autistic disorder, Asperger’s
syndrome, childhood disintegrative disorder, and pervasive
development disorder not otherwise specified (American
Psychiatric Association, 2013). ASD is an early onset disor-
der; delays or abnormal functioning must be noted from
early childhood, even if those symptoms are unrecognized
until later childhood years. These disorders are largely char-
acterized by impairments in communication, social interac-
tions, and imagination. Impairments in social interactions
consist of deficits in the usage or comprehension of eye con-
tact, facial expression, and body postures. Also, individuals
with ASD exhibit a lack of social and emotional responsive-
ness. In 2014 the Centers for Disease Control reported that
one out of every 68 children in the United States received
an autism spectrum disorder diagnosis.
Editor’s Note: Donna Abely Richard is a graduate of Alber-
tus Magnus College, New Haven, CT. William More is Adjunct
Assistant Professor in the Masters of Arts in Art Therapy Program
and Stephen P. Joy is Professor of Psychology at the same institu-
tion. Correspondence concerning this article may be addressed to
the first author at donna.abely@snet.net
Color versions of one or more figures in this article can be
found online at www.tandfonline.com/uart.
13
In recent years art therapy practice with individuals
with autism has emerged as an area of interest possibly due
to the higher rates of autism diagnoses, the responsiveness
of those diagnosed with ASD to art, and the expansion of
art therapy into new clinical settings. In a recent study
research on autism was identified as the third most impor-
tant population needing attention according to art therapy
researchers (Kaiser & Deaver, 2013). This study also indi-
cated the need for more outcome research studies, research
on interventions that produce specific outcomes with cer-
tain populations or specific disorders, and experimental and
quasi-experimental studies. Recent years have seen a drive
toward evidence-based research that supports and encour-
ages the use of art therapy as an effective form of therapeutic
intervention. Several articles have focused on the need to
conduct scientific research on this subject (Kapitan, 2006;
Martin, 2009; Slayton, D’Archer, & Kaplan, 2010). These
publications have ranged from descriptions of research
approaches and suggestions for topics (Deaver, 2002) to the
benefits of conducting these procedures (Anderson, 2001).
The Build-a-Face (BAF) art therapy intervention was
created by the first author for the purpose of this research
and was designed to address the needs of children with
ASD. It was specifically designed to assist with facial emo-
tional recognition that would reinforce identification of
emotions through the use of three-dimensional materials.
ASD research presents several hypotheses regarding
impairments in social interaction through studies of the
identification of facial expression and facial recognition
in both adults and children with autism. Other research
has focused on emotion recognition. Hobson, Ouston,
and Lee (1988) compared the abilities of adolescents
and young adults with autism to recognize emotions in
photographs of full and partial human faces with the
recognition capacities of non-autistic adolescents with
mental retardation. The researchers directed the partici-
pants to match individual expressions of emotions across
individuals and subsequently in photographs featuring
inverted faces. Individuals with autism experienced
greater difficulty identifying emotions in photographs of
faces with visible eyes and noses but with the mouths
omitted. However, participants with autism were signifi-
cantly more successful with matching identity and emo-
tion in upside-down faces than the participants with
mental retardation. Although Hobson et al. concluded
that autistic adolescents and adults are proficient in rec-
ognizing identity and emotion in upside-down faces; the
14 INTERVENTION FOR CHILDREN WITH AUTISM
researchers expressed doubt that individuals with autism
fully understand the meaning of these expressions and
emotions.
Deruelle, Rondan, Gepner, and Fagot (2006) studied
impairments in visual processing in children with autism
and Asperger’s syndrome. The researchers based their stud-
ies on the findings of Hobson et al. (1988), in that they
claimed that children with autism tend to process the parts
of a complex object rather than the object as a whole. Der-
uelle et al. sought to characterize the processing of visual
stimuli (facial and geometrical patterns) by children with
ASD and to determine whether they exhibit a global
(whole) preference or a local (parts) preference. In their
study, children with autism and Asperger’s syndrome had
difficulty reproducing the facial and geometrical patterns
from the stimuli. The findings indicated that the clinical
group, in comparison to the control group, was deficient in
configural processing (the ability to perceive relationships
among facial features), but expressed a preference for parts
of the geometric patterns.
ASD research has attempted to identify the causes of
the deficits in recognizing and producing facial affects, as
these deficits contribute to social impairments. Wallace,
Coleman, and Bailey (2008) tested the facial expression rec-
ognition profile of adults with ASD. Their main goals were
to measure participants’ abilities to recognize facial expres-
sion while evaluating the following competing hypotheses:
(a) impaired configural processing (e.g., two eyes above a
nose and mouth), or disabled processing of facial structure
and spatial distancing of features (e.g., nose-mouth dis-
tance); (b) the “theory of mind” or the inability to recognize
other people’s mental states; and (c) atypical amygdala func-
tions. The amygdala is the section of the brain that is pri-
marily responsible for the processing and memory of
emotional reactions, including fear recognition. The results
of the study by Wallace et al. support prior evidence that
suggested that individuals with ASD are significantly less
successful than individuals without ASD at recognizing
upright facial expressions of fear, sadness, and disgust, indi-
cating impairment in configural processing. Individuals
with ASD were able to more accurately recognize sadness in
the inverted facial expressions than the control group. The
amygdala functioning hypothesis could explain the ten-
dency for these individuals to misidentify fearful expressions
as angry ones. The researchers concluded that there might
be multiple explanations for deficits in facial recognition.
Recent ASD research has used eye-tracking technol-
ogy to measure visual fixation patterns of individuals with
autism. Klin, Jones, Schultz, Volkmar, and Cohen (2002)
conducted visual scan path studies, which provided evi-
dence that individuals with ASD focus on the lower por-
tion of the face (the mouth) rather than the upper portion
(the eyes). More recently, Klin, Lin, Gorrindo, Ramsey,
and Jones (2009) suggested that children with autism
focus on mouths because of audiovisual synchrony (or “lip
sync”), which is the exact match of lip motion and speech
sound. The study compared toddlers with autism to tod-
dlers with typical development and found that the 2-year-
olds with autism preferred the audiovisual synchronies.
The children showing typical development focused
instead on the most socially relevant information, such as
human movement.
Although numerous studies have examined ASD as it
relates to facial recognition and expression, all hoping to
provide a clearer understanding of the deficits in communi-
cation and social interaction, only a few in art therapy have
considered the artistic development of those with ASD.
Selfe (1977) stated that artistically gifted children with
autism follow the same developmental drawing patterns as
typical children, but at an earlier age. Charman and Baron-
Cohen (1993) examined drawing development in children
with autism who lack particular artistic talent and con-
cluded that their formation of drawing skills is related to
nonverbal mental age and appears to follow normal devel-
opmental stages. Results from Charman and Baron-
Cohen’s study also indicate that individuals with ASD can
create intellectually realistic drawings from memory. Sacks
(as cited in Furniss, 2008) also noted that some children
with ASD exhibit high levels of visual memory.
The art of some young children with ASD demonstrates
self-expression, imagination, and creativity (Selfe, 1977) and
also represents a method of understanding beyond speech
and language (Lowenfeld & Brittain, 1987). According to
Betts (2003), the communication inherent in drawings of
children with ASD could potentially provide information
about perception, memory, and cognitive abilities. Evans
and Dubowski (2001) noted that children with ASD could
benefit from early therapeutic intervention and learning to
communicate through art during the developmental pro-
cess. Betts (2003) developed the Face Stimulus Assessment
(FSA), a projective drawing that can be used with children
and adolescents with disabilities such as ASD. The FSA
consists of a series of three stimulus images: The first is a
standardized image of a human face, the second is an out-
line of a face, and the third is a blank page. Betts intended
for the FSA to provide clients with two consecutive oppor-
tunities to draw a face that would assess their memory and
visual retention capacity. She speculated that the FSA might
be beneficial to the evaluation of psychosocial and cognitive
development, creative potential, and graphic ability.
In a separate but similar line of research, Martin (2008)
conducted a pilot study of the Portrait Drawing Assessment
that examined face processing by asking participants to cre-
ate portrait drawings. The study participants, who were
diagnosed with ASD, used the researcher’s face to render
their portraits. The researcher concluded that this assess-
ment might be used therapeutically for the development of
facial processing and facial recognition skills.
Because research suggests that children with ASD
struggle with facial and emotional recognition (Hobson
et al., 1988; Klin et al., 2002) and art therapists have begun
to use the rendering of a face or portrait to help with visual
retention and facial processing, we reasoned that the manip-
ulation of facial features on a three-dimensional head would
be useful for eliciting and reinforcing emotion-based expres-
sions for children with ASD. Three-dimensional figures
more accurately represent the three-dimensional quality of
the human face and their realistic nature may expedite the
 RICHARD / MORE / JOY
process of emotion identification. The Expressive Therapies
Continuum (ETC; Kagin & Lusebrink, 1978), a frame-
work for the use of art in therapy, may provide support for
the use of three-dimensional objects to achieve the goal of
emotional recognition. Information processing occurs at
each of the first three levels on the ETC: Kinesthetic/Sen-
sory, Perceptual/Affective, and Cognitive/Symbolic. By
using three-dimensional materials to recreate emotions with
facial features, first the Kinesthetic/Sensory level is engaged
through touch, next the Perceptual/Affective level is acti-
vated as the face is directly constructed with the materials,
and then possibly the Cognitive/Symbolic level can be
mobilized to reinforce the identification of emotions.
Build-a-Face (BAF), an art-making task developed by
the first author specifically for this study, was tested as an
intervention to assist in facial processing and recognition of
emotions among children with ASD in an elementary
school setting. We sought to evaluate whether the stimulus
of building faces using various features with different emo-
tional expressions would be helpful to children with ASD.
According to Hobson et al. (1988), individuals with ASD
rely on parts of the face rather than the whole for facial
recognition. The BAF intervention provides a tactile experi-
ence so the child can touch and feel each of the facial fea-
tures before bringing them together to create each facial
expression. The BAF intervention uses preconstructed facial
features to build a face rather than requiring the children to
create their own. We postulated that the children’s use of
the preconstructed features would reinforce the integration
of the parts into a whole. Our hypothesis was that children
with ASD would improve their ability to recognize emo-
tions in facial expressions with the reinforcement of the
BAF three-dimensional stimulus activity.
Method
Participants
Nineteen children between the ages of 8 and 14, all
recruited from a private elementary school in Connecticut,
participated in the study. Each child was previously diag-
nosed with ASD. Participants were randomly assigned to
either the treatment group or the control group using a
table of random digits. The treatment group consisted of
10 males, and the control group was comprised of 6 males
and 3 females. The sample originally consisted of 25 chil-
dren with ASD; however, 6 participants were removed
from the study. Two children were unable to participate
due to their inability to understand the instructions, 3 chil-
dren were omitted due to lack of responses or repetitive
answers on the Diagnostic Analysis of Nonverbal Accuracy
questionnaire described below, and the last withdrawn par-
ticipant was unable to participate due to illness.
Measures
The Diagnostic Analysis of Nonverbal Accuracy
2–Child Facial Expressions (DANVA 2-CF; Nowicki &
Duke, 1994a) measures a child’s ability to recognize
15
emotions in facial expressions. This test was designed to
measure individual differences in the accurate sending and
receiving of nonverbal social information. The DANVA
2-CF also determines a person’s ability to identify the non-
verbal communication of emotion, differing in high and
low intensity. The four emotions measured include happi-
ness, anger, sadness, and fear. The emotions are represented
in 24 photographs of children’s facial expressions (6 photo-
graphs for each emotion), and the participants are
instructed to identify each one. The four emotion terms are
printed on a piece of paper and placed in front of the chil-
dren to help them remember the emotions while identify-
ing the facial expressions in the photographs.
The DANVA 2-CF manual (Nowicki & Duke,
1994b) summarizes the results of a number of studies. The
measure has been found to demonstrate reasonable internal
consistency and test–retest reliability. Internal consistency
has ranged from .69 to .81 with a mean of .76 across 10
studies with children aged 4 to 16. Test–retest reliability
was r D .74. A lower test–retest reliability of r D .66 was
reported for preschool children. In support of the measure’s
validity, lower DANVA 2-CF scores were significantly cor-
related with lower social competence as rated by teachers of
preschool children and elementary school-aged children.
Lower DANVA 2-CF scores in elementary school-aged
children correlated with greater external control expectan-
cies, difficulties with teachers, lower self-esteem in girls, and
greater depression and higher levels of psychopathology in
boys. Academically, lower DANVA 2-CF scores are associ-
ated with lower achievement in elementary and preschool-
aged children.
Materials
The intervention created for this study (Build-a-Face)
includes four sets of facial features (eyes, noses, mouths,
and brows) for representing four different emotions (happi-
ness, sadness, anger, and fear), as well as a mannequin head.
Facial features were molded with Super Sculpey, using
DANVA 2-CF photographs as a guide. The color brown
was chosen for the eyes to correspond with the eye color in
the photographs, and the model irises were molded with
Sculpey III–Hazelnut. The sclera, or the white portion of
the eye, was molded with Original Sculpey–White. A sec-
ond set of facial features was created to account for break-
ages. Scotch Adhesive Putty was used to attach the facial
features to the Styro Full Blank Head. On the head Benja-
min Moore & Co. Cafe Royal paint was applied in a flat
finish. AquaZAR Semi-Gloss, a water-based polyurethane,
was used to seal the head and prevent the paint from peel-
ing. Black line markings were drawn on the head to indicate
the placement of brows, eyes, nose, and mouth (see
Figure 1).
Magneatos, a three-dimensional construction set con-
taining 72 primary-colored plastic magnetic balls and rods,
was used for the control group’s activity. This construction
set was designed to promote hand and eye coordination,
spatial awareness and judgment skills, and imagination.
Magneatos won the Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Award and
16 INTERVENTION FOR CHILDREN WITH AUTISM
Figure 1 Build-a-Face Models
the Oppenheim Special Needs Adaptable Product Award
(Oppenheim Toy Portfolio, 2013). Pediatric therapists use
Magneatos as a therapy tool to build skills and self-esteem
for children on the autism spectrum. The rationale for the
use of Magneatos in this study was to provide a control
activity that would also be tactile and building-related.
Procedures
The Institutional Review Board of Albertus Magnus
College approved the study procedures; there was no Insti-
tutional Review Board approval process at the elementary
school. The principal of the school granted permission to
conduct the study after reviewing the proposed procedures.
The elementary school sent informed consent forms home
with the potential participants for their parents to review.
Parents were also provided with a description of the tasks
their children would be asked to perform. The first author
then arranged individual sessions that lasted no more than
1 hour with students whose parents had consented to their
participation. In addition, verbal assent from the partici-
pants themselves was requested at the beginning of the ses-
sions. Study sessions were scheduled in consultation with
participants’ teachers. Participants were tested in a quiet
room or in a partitioned section of the classroom.
First the DANVA 2-CF was administered as a pretest
for participants in both the treatment group and the control
group. Participants were shown 24 different photographs of
children’s faces expressing the emotions of happiness, sad-
ness, anger, and fear, and were asked to identify the
emotion in each. The administration of the test followed
the general directions from the DANVA 2 manual.
After administration of the DANVA 2-CF, each partic-
ipant in the treatment group completed the art therapy
intervention of building a face using individual facial fea-
tures (mouth, nose, eyes, and brows) to represent the cor-
rect emotion. The participant was asked to create four
different faces, first representing happiness, then sadness,
then anger, and, finally, fear. The young ages of some par-
ticipants prevented them from understanding the meaning
of “fear” so the word “afraid” was substituted, which proved
easier to comprehend. The participant was directed to
choose a mouth, nose, eyes, and brows (in that order) that
represented the correct emotion. For example, the
researcher asked, “Which one of these mouths do you think
would be a happy mouth?” and the participant received two
attempts at choosing the correct feature. The participant
was first allowed one attempt to select the correct feature
independently. If the correct feature was chosen, the
researcher responded with “That’s right; that is a happy
mouth.” If an incorrect feature was selected, the participant
was redirected with a descriptive statement about the fea-
ture, such as “I don’t think that’s a happy mouth. A happy
mouth has ends that turn upward.” After this feedback
from the researcher, the participant made a second (cued)
attempt at selecting the correct feature. If this attempt also
failed, the researcher directed the participant to the correct
feature. Next, the participant was instructed to place the
facial feature onto the Styrofoam head, using the pre-
marked lines as a guide. After the activity’s completion, the
DANVA 2-CF was readministered as a posttest.
After the participants in the control group took the
DANVA 2-CF pretest, they participated in an art activity
using Magneatos. They were asked to use the materials to
build their own three-dimensional design. Then the
DANVA 2-CF was readministered as a posttest.
The participants were asked to respond verbally, but
because four participants were unable to communicate with
spoken language, they utilized alternate methods. Three
used the printed word guide to select the chosen emotion,
and the fourth used a nonverbal word device, which elec-
tronically speaks the selected word.
Results
Student t tests were conducted to determine the extent
of change on the DANVA 2-CF pretest versus posttest and
the extent of differences between the two groups. The
mean DANVA 2-CF score for the treatment group on the
pretest was 11.00 (SD D 4.29). The mean DANVA 2-CF
score for the control group was 9.67 (SD D 5.87). Results
showed no statistically significant difference between the
two groups, t(17) D .57, p D .58.
For the DANVA 2-CF posttest, the mean score for the
treatment group was 12.50 (SD D 4.17). The mean score
for the control group was 10.11 (SD D 4.54). The two
groups did not differ to a statistically significant degree, t
(17) D 1.20, p D.25.
 RICHARD / MORE / JOY
The mean amount of change between the pretest and
posttest DANVA 2-CF scores for the treatment group was
1.50 (SD D 2.80). For the control group, the mean change
in DANVA 2-CF score was 0.44 (SD D 2.13). Although
the treatment group improved more than the control group
by almost half a standard deviation, there was no statisti-
cally significant difference in the amount of change across
the two groups, t(17) D .92, p D .37.
One-sample t tests showed change within the treatment
group, t(9) D 1.70, p D .12, and the control condition,
t(8) D .63, p D .55. The results were also examined sepa-
rately for each of the four emotions (happy, sad, angry, and
fearful). However, no significant difference was found for
any of the emotions.
The results indicate that improvement was made in the
expected direction. In the treatment group, 7 participants
improved and 3 exhibited no change. By comparison, only
4 participants improved in the control group, with 5
remaining the same. However, the proportions of x2(1, N
D 19) D 1.27, p D .26 did not differ significantly.
Finally, Cohen’s d was used in order to determine the
effect size within each group. The result for the treatment
group was d D .35, whereas the control group result was
d D .07. This indicates that a small but real effect presented
itself in the treatment group but failed to emerge in the
control group.
Discussion
This pilot study tested the hypothesis that children
with autism spectrum disorder would better recognize emo-
tions in facial expressions following the use of the Build-a-
Face intervention. The results showed no statistically signif-
icant differences between the treatment and control groups;
however, the findings suggest that use of the BAF interven-
tion may be helpful. In the treatment group, 7 of 10 partici-
pants improved, compared to 4 of 9 in the control group.
The effect sizes showed that there was a small but real effect
in the treatment group that did not emerge for the control
group.
It was observed that many participants in the treatment
group demonstrated excitement upon being introduced to
BAF. The children were eager to touch the individual facial
features and the head. Several appeared more focused dur-
ing the intervention than did members of the control
group, who seemed less interested in the Magneatos. After
completion of the facial expressions, several treatment par-
ticipants mimicked the expressions spontaneously. More
than any other expression, participants recognized the
“happy” example, possibly due to the familiarity of the
smile. As found by Wallace et al. (2008), fearful expressions
were least recognized, which may be related to the hypothe-
sis that states that the amygdala portion of the brain, which
performs a primary role in fear recognition, does not func-
tion normally for people with ASD. Because typically devel-
oping children did not participate in this study, it is difficult
to ascertain whether developmental issues cause the recog-
nition lapse, but it is a provocative possibility.
17
The BAF intervention was developed to explore the use
of a three-dimensional activity to promote emotional recog-
nition skills for children with ASD. There have been previ-
ous studies on the effects of two-dimensional art tasks
involving face processing and recognition skills (Betts,
2003; Martin, 2008) and the benefits of sensory stimula-
tion (Kearns, 2004) as they pertain to children with ASD.
Although no empirical studies of children with ASD exist,
Waters and Silberg (2002) found that art activities involv-
ing tactile experiences helped dissociative children connect
through the ability to touch and create.
The tactile experience of the BAF intervention relates to
the processes described in the Expressive Therapies Contin-
uum (Hinz, 2008; Lusebrink, 2004, 2010). The ETC
explores the use of different art media and a patient’s ability
to process information as images are created. The processes
engaged with the BAF intervention relate to the kinesthetic
component through the building of the face and with the
sensory component through tactile engagement with the
three-dimensional facial features, and to the Perceptual/
Affective level through the process of face formulation. On
the Cognitive/Symbolic level, BAF may affect the informa-
tion-processing element of the cognitive component, which
consists of cognitive operations. The placement of the three-
dimensional facial features to form an emotion-based expres-
sion involves the use of spatial differentiation and integra-
tion, along with the cognitive integration of forms (BAF
facial features) to create concept formation (BAF emotion-
based face as constructed on the mannequin head). The ulti-
mate goal of the BAF intervention would be improving the
child’s ability to maneuver the parts to form not only a
human face but also, more importantly, to form the correct
positions to create a symbolic representation of the requested
emotion. Based on these observations, the ETC offers sup-
port for the three-dimensional, tactile experience of BAF.
The ETC provides a valuable and standardized way of evalu-
ating the child’s information processing and movement at
the different levels. The scope of this research did not allow
for such a depth of evaluation, but future research may be
indicated to achieve a deeper level of understanding of the
factors affecting children’s ability to recognize emotions.
The limitations of this study included problems with
the administration of the test. Participants found it difficult
to remain focused during the lengthy session of testing and
intervention. As per the school’s policy, incentives such as
snacks, drinks, and computer time were offered to several
participants to sustain their motivation and urge them to
complete the session. Due to their unfamiliarity with the
researcher, teachers or school aides accompanied some par-
ticipants to help them stay on task using verbal prompting
during the session. If the participants had been familiar
with the researcher, the study sessions may have run
smoother, resulting in a more successful intervention.
The small sample size presented another limitation; it
restricted the statistical power of the results and created a
gender imbalance between the groups. The treatment group
consisted of 10 males, whereas the control group consisted
of 6 males and 3 females. The imbalance of gender in the
groups was an artifact of randomization in a small sample.
18 INTERVENTION FOR CHILDREN WITH AUTISM
Future studies should include a larger and more gender-bal-
anced sample or separate studies should be conducted to
determine the effectiveness of the BAF intervention for
boys and for girls.
Based on one session of treatment and a small sample,
the results were not significant. However, future research
should consider providing multiple interventions to deter-
mine if this would help children with ASD improve their
emotional recognition skills. Humans learn through repeti-
tion of tasks; therefore, children with ASD could potentially
benefit from consecutive interventions using BAF.
Future researchers may also want to focus on using the
BAF intervention with only one emotion or only one per
session. This would allow for a shorter session length, which
may help participants remain more focused. Sessions focus-
ing on one emotion over a period of time may also help to
solidly reinforce that particular emotion before moving on
to the next one. The children in this study demonstrated
excitement over the introduction of BAF; further research
could determine whether the participants’ enthusiasm
would continue over several BAF sessions.
Although the results of our study were equivocal, it is
hoped that future research on validating the Build-a-Face
intervention for improving recognition of emotions among
children with autism spectrum disorder will be conducted.
Research projects on interventions such as BAF, and studies
like the one discussed in this article, will help the art ther-
apy profession contribute both to the demystification of
ASD and to the quality-of-life improvement among those
affected by autism.
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