What Color Are You Feeling?

Are emotions linked to colors? Or, more importantly, can folks with autism spectrum disorder understand emotions better when the emotion is linked to a color? Sometimes, yes! At times, emotion words are difficult to use...some folks find it easier to say "I'm so RED!!!" when they are very angry instead of saying "I feel mad."

Do2Learn's FREE Emotions Color Wheel links the emotion name to the etymology,  color, definition, statement, and photo of a face depicting that emotion. In creating this color wheel, emotions were first divided into six general categories and assigned colors.

Then, more detailed emotions were added in, as were gradients of color. See?

The milder emotions are at the edges of the wheel, while more intense emotions like "hysterical" and "enraged" are closer to the center of the wheel. This is important, as most emotions have a basic state and vary from mild to intense which is shown on the wheel above, or like this!

 To see details on a specific emotion, like angry, simply click on that word in the color wheel...the word will pulse and this information will appear.

Of course, not everyone experiences emotions in the same way or agrees that all emotions are certain colors. If perhaps happy is not "green" to you, don't despair!

Do2Learn has blank emotion color wheels available so you can individualize the color wheel to your own needs! Download the blank wheel here.

You can find more info about Do2Learn's Emotions Color Wheel here! Do you think emotions are linked to colors, either for yourself or for folks with autism spectrum disorders?

FACELAND: A Fun Game to Practice Recognizing Emotions

Many folks with autism spectrum disorder struggle with recognizing others facial expressions. There are many ways to teach recognizing emotions in others: through flash cards, comics, role plays, and even watching television shows and labeling the characters emotions can be helpful. Another option is FACELAND, a game developed by Do2Learn that teaches kids to recognize six important emotions: Sadness, Anger, Disgust, Fear, Surprise, and Happiness. These skills are taught through a video game format with an amusement park theme. The effective strategies in FACELAND include:

• Breaking the entire face down into a smaller concept (a clue). For example, raised eyebrows might indicate surprise or fear
• Promoting clue acquisition via spaced repetition
• Checking for understanding of clues using new examples
• Combining clues for “part to whole” learning
• Utilizing instruction that incorporates photos, mirror mimic sessions, and varied interaction

FACELAND was awarded with the Children's Technology Review's Editor's Choice Award in 2009. Click here to watch a demo of how FACELAND works!

What strategies have you tried for teaching emotion recognition?