The Effects of a Computerised Teacher‐Mediated Intervention on the Emotional Understanding of Autistic Children

ABSTRACT Background Autism spectrum disorder is associated with persistent challenges in emotional understanding, encompassing difficulties in recognising emotions from nonverbal cues, interpreting others' affective and mental states, as well as in emotional language. These challenges may impede the social functioning of autistic children. Objectives This study evaluated the effectiveness of EmotiPlay, a computer‐based, research‐supported intervention designed to enhance emotion understanding, which was adapted into a teacher‐mediated format for autistic children in special education classrooms. Methods A total of 116 autistic children (17 girls), aged 7–10, were randomly assigned at the class level to either an intervention group ( n = 59), which received two EmotiPlay lessons per week for 22 weeks or a control group ( n = 57), which maintained a standard special education curriculum. Outcome measures included emotion recognition from nonverbal cues, cognitive empathy and emotional language. Social functioning was additionally assessed through observation during free play. Results and Conclusions Compared to the control group, children in the intervention group showed significant improvements in interpreting emotions from nonverbal cues and social context, as well as in their emotional language. However, these improvements did not generalise to emotions beyond the programme or to broader social behaviours. These findings demonstrate the potential and limitations of integrating computer‐based interventions targeting socio‐emotional learning in special education settings. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT05902832