Department of Psychology, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2010 Aug;51(8):944-52. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-7610.2010.02258.x.
An emerging body of evidence indicates that relative to typically developing children, children with autism are selectively impaired in their ability to recognize facial identity. A critical question is whether face recognition skills can be enhanced through a direct training intervention.
In a randomized clinical trial, children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder were pre-screened with a battery of subtests (the Let's Face It! Skills battery) examining face and object processing abilities. Participants who were significantly impaired in their face processing abilities were assigned to either a treatment or a waitlist group. Children in the treatment group (N = 42) received 20 hours of face training with the Let's Face It! (LFI!) computer-based intervention. The LFI! program is comprised of seven interactive computer games that target the specific face impairments associated with autism, including the recognition of identity across image changes in expression, viewpoint and features, analytic and holistic face processing strategies and attention to information in the eye region. Time 1 and Time 2 performance for the treatment and waitlist groups was assessed with the Let's Face It! Skills battery.
The main finding was that relative to the control group (N = 37), children in the face training group demonstrated reliable improvements in their analytic recognition of mouth features and holistic recognition of a face based on its eyes features.
These results indicate that a relatively short-term intervention program can produce measurable improvements in the face recognition skills of children with autism. As a treatment for face processing deficits, the Let's Face It! program has advantages of being cost-free, adaptable to the specific learning needs of the individual child and suitable for home and school applications.
越来越多的证据表明，与典型发展的儿童相比，自闭症儿童在识别面部身份的能力上存在选择性缺陷。一个关键问题是，面部识别技能是否可以通过直接的训练干预来提高。
在一项随机临床试验中，自闭症谱系障碍儿童通过一系列子测试（“让我们面对它！技能测试”）进行了预筛选，这些子测试检查了面部和物体处理能力。在面部处理能力方面存在明显障碍的参与者被分配到治疗组或候补组。治疗组（N=42）的儿童接受了 20 小时的基于计算机的“让我们面对它！”（LFI！）面部训练。LFI！程序由七个互动计算机游戏组成，针对与自闭症相关的特定面部障碍，包括识别表情、视角和特征变化、分析和整体面部处理策略以及关注眼部区域信息的身份。治疗组和候补组的时间 1 和时间 2 表现使用“让我们面对它！技能测试”进行评估。
主要发现是，与对照组（N=37）相比，面部训练组的儿童在分析性识别嘴巴特征和基于眼睛特征的整体识别面部方面表现出可靠的改善。
这些结果表明，相对短期的干预计划可以提高自闭症儿童的面部识别技能。作为一种治疗面部处理缺陷的方法，LFI！程序具有免费、适应个体儿童特定学习需求以及适合家庭和学校应用的优势。
