People with Asperger syndrome face many challenges as they cope with life and society. From my professional experience, the most painful area is that of interpersonal relationships. There is often a misconception that people on the autistic spectrum are not interested in other people, in friendships or relationships. From my experience, they actually crave relationship and friendship, as most of us do. Many times people on the autistic spectrum lack the skills to attain the relationships that they want and need.
One of the reasons that social skills prove to be so challenging is that often people with Asperger do not read facial expressions well. While this skill comes naturally to most of us, people with Asperger tend to lack this innate ability. Luckily this skill can be acquired, if you are willing to invest the time and effort.
Dr Paul Ekman dedicated his life to research of facial expressions in different parts of the world. He found that there are 6 basic emotions for which facial expressions are universal. The universal nature of these expressions indicate that they are most likely hardwired in us.
Dr. Ekman built an online course dedicated to teaching people to better read facial expressions. There are a few modules to the course. personally, I recommend that those who have trouble reading expressions complete all the modules.
The online Course:
a course in reading facial expressions
The basic book that describes his research:
An entertaining TV show, that is based on his research. As entertainment it sensationalizes the content, but it is based on his actual work. TV serie:
Full disclaimer: I do not have any business relationships or affiliation with these programs.
