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Module

Emotions & Self-Regulation

Training in recognising emotions in yourself and others, and learning practical strategies to manage emotional responses. Covers facial expressions, voice tone, body signals, and a toolbox of regulation techniques.

  • Target group

    Autism & ADHD

  • Age range

    Ages 6–16

  • Sub-modules

    16

About this module

Emotion recognition and self-regulation are two central pillars of social and psychological development. For autistic children, perceiving emotional signals in faces, voices, and bodies often makes social situations harder to interpret, while children with ADHD frequently struggle to regulate intense, rapidly shifting emotions. Our module combines methods from emotion research, such as the structured categorisation of basic emotions associated with Paul Ekman, with established self-regulation techniques from cognitive-behavioural approaches. Children first recognise emotions receptively in faces, voices, and body postures, then reflexively in themselves, and finally practise concrete strategies such as breathing, grounding, and reframing in everyday situations.

Learning goals

  • Recognise basic and nuanced emotional states in faces, voices, and body signals

  • Perceive, name, and rate the intensity of one's own inner states

  • Identify triggers for one's own emotional reactions

  • Choose and apply regulation strategies suited to the situation

  • Expand one's emotional vocabulary beyond basic categories

Didactic approach

  1. 01

    Multimodal perception: faces, voices, body posture, and context trained in parallel

  2. 02

    From receptive to productive learning: first recognise, then name, then regulate

  3. 03

    Practical strategies from cognitive-behavioural approaches, adapted for children

  4. 04

    Body maps and rating scales that make abstract emotions tangible

  5. 05

    Short, repeatable micro-exercises that fit into everyday routines

Sub-modules

  • Facial Expression Recognition

    Identifying basic and complex emotions from facial expressions. Structured exercises with clear visual cues and graduated difficulty levels.

  • Voice & Tone Recognition

    Learning to detect emotional cues in how people speak — anger, sadness, excitement, sarcasm — beyond just the words themselves.

  • Identifying Own Emotions

    Building awareness of internal emotional states. Using body maps, emotion scales, and reflection prompts to name and understand personal feelings.

  • Calming Strategies & Techniques

    A practical toolkit of breathing exercises, grounding techniques, and sensory strategies that children can apply when feeling overwhelmed.

  • Frustration Tolerance Training

    Gradual exercises that help children tolerate setbacks and delayed gratification. Especially relevant for ADHD-related emotional dysregulation.

  • Emotional Vocabulary Building

    Expanding the range of emotion words a child can use. Moving beyond 'happy' and 'sad' to nuanced descriptions of emotional states.

More modules

  • Recognising emotions in body language & posture

    How emotions show in shoulders, hands, posture and movement before the face gives them away. Learning to read what the body tells about inner states.

  • Understanding mixed emotions & emotional ambivalence

    Feeling two things at once is the norm, not the exception. Practising states like joy-and-worry or anger-and-affection without forcing them into a single label.

  • Emotional contagion & empathy training

    When empathising helps and when it floods. Empathy as a regulable skill, not an overwhelming burden.

  • Identifying emotional triggers & patterns

    The personal patterns: what tips one’s mood. Identifying triggers without pathologising them.

  • De-escalation strategies for conflict situations

    When a conflict heats up: concrete steps that lower the tempo. Seeing one’s share, asking for a pause, checking words before they are spoken.

  • Emotional journaling & self-reflection

    Writing as a reflection tool. Structured templates for emotional self-disclosure that do not slide into rumination.

  • Managing anticipatory anxiety

    Being anxious before something important is not a defect. Telling the difference between productive watchfulness and paralysing anticipation.

  • Recognising the difference between feelings and actions

    Feeling something does not mean acting on it. Making the space between impulse and reaction usable on purpose.

  • Building emotional resilience over time

    How to get through emotionally hard stretches. Resilience as the outcome of routines, support and self-understanding, not as a trait.

  • Age-appropriate mindfulness exercises

    Mindfulness without esoteric packaging. Short, body-based exercises that connect to the everyday lives of children and adolescents.

Age range

The sub-modules span from basic emotion recognition (suitable from age 6) to complex topics such as emotional ambivalence, resilience, and cognitive restructuring (relevant for adolescents up to age 16). Younger children work with clearer facial expressions, simpler scales, and shorter reflection phases. As linguistic and cognitive maturity grows, mixed emotions, social context factors, and longer-term regulation strategies are introduced. The adaptive AI adjusts the level based on the child's individual learning trajectory.

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