Social cognition has two important aspects:  ‘theory of mind’ (ToM) and ‘emotion understanding’ (EU). Both are influenced by parents’ conversational interaction with their children. Briefly, ToM refers to a child’s developing understanding of other people’s mental states and their capacities to see people as psychological beings with thoughts, desires, and beliefs that may differ from one’s own.   EU, sometimes referred to as ‘affective perspective taking’, includes the understanding of emotional expressions, internal feelings, and the antecedents and consequences of emotions in the self and in others (see Thompson & Lagattuta, 2006).

The essence of speech therapy is improving communication—both communicating to others (“expressive”) and understanding the communication of others (“receptive”). Consider for a moment what strong emotions can do to your ability to effectively communicate. How many times have you been in a sputtering rage and unable to make an effective argument, only to have the “perfect” piece of pith pop into your head after you have calmed down? An emotion “leaving you speechless” is a cliché for good reason. Communicating effectively is exponentially more difficult for anyone in the grip of strong emotions.

Emotions as Part of Expressive Language

Most children with developmental delays, autism, and other disabilities have great difficulty with emotional self-regulation, especially when it comes to managing strong emotions like frustration or anger. This puts them at a disadvantage from the outset. Add to that the frustration caused by difficulty communicating in general, as well as their inability to appropriately express that frustration, and you have a recipe for a vicious cycle that can cause an escalating spiral of behavioral problems in response.

Learning to recognize their emotions is an important foundation skill in expressive communication. It is the first step in the process of both learning how to regulate their emotions effectively (so they can “use their words”) and in learning how to appropriately express and diffuse those emotions. Regulating and expressing emotions appropriately, especially those emotions that are triggers for problem behaviors, can break the vicious cycle of negative emotions and deescalate the associated behavioral problems. All of which leads to better expressive communication (not to mention happier kids).

Part of Receptive Language

Learning to recognize their emotions is also an important foundation skill in receptive communication. Recognizing specific emotions in themselves makes them far more likely to be able to figure out the emotions of others. And understanding the emotions of others, and how those emotions affect meaning, is a fundamental part of understanding communication.

Think of the difference the emotional context makes to the exclamation, “You are sick!” An adult saying it in anger is a completely different beast than a peer saying it in awe. And neither emotionally charged statement has anything to do with fever or vomiting. Unless you understand the emotional context of any given exchange, you can’t understand the meaning.

Kids with developmental delays, autism, and other disabilities are often thought of as literal-minded in part because they struggle with the emotional aspect of receptive communication. It also affects their ability to accurately assess a situation and make a socially appropriate response. So teaching empathy is vital to improving receptive and expressive communication on many levels. Teaching emotion identification is the first step of that process.