[o2b30again]

The two yr old that we are adopting shows little facial expression. She smiles occasionally and you can see thoughts being processed in her eyes but for the most part she just stares. She enjoys being held and snuggled. Will hold your hand etc. She will focus and read children's books and is learning how to run...her gait is off and really choppy. BUT she still tries to keep up with her brothers. She was neglected up until the age of 1 1/2 when she was placed in foster. What do you think is up with the facial expressions or lack of? Anyone seen this before? Thanks

[ProspectiveSingleMom]

It could be a lot of things. That is not uncommon in children with developmental delays. It could also be depression or PTSD, or it could just be that she's shy and will need to get to know you better before she'll open up more.

[Robbin]

I'd talk to the pediatrician to ask for a referral for an evaluation. Whether she has neurological disorders, developmental delays, or after effects of neglect, the sooner there is a diagnosis, the sooner you can treat it and help her heal. Good Luck!

[momraine]

I have had two kids who don't show normal facial expressions. My oldest has aspergers and still does not show very many facial expressions. My daughter did not when we got her. She was ten months old and had been living in an orphanage. For her she had learned not to show her emotions on her face. Now she is fine. It was not until she trusted us that she showed any emotion. It was almost spooky only her eyes moved, but she saw everything. She even cried silently at first. Baby's smile at mom and then mom smiles back and so they keep doing it. If there is no one to smile back, what's the point, so they quit.
I would say still do the evaluations just to be sure, but it may just be a matter of earning her trust and giving her time to attach.

[aspenhall]

I was gonna suggest a possibility of Asbergers or mild autism as a reason as well.

[Barksum]

Oh, my! That could be a sign of so many things you could go bonkers. Keep track and discuss anything you notice, like the gait issue, with the pediatrician. You could explore having an Early Intervention evaluation done so that you could have a heads up about any developmental or other delays that may be present.

Our Ds who often lacks facial expression, when you would expect some obvious expression, had mild attachment problems, probable dysfunction of sensory integration and probable FASD (fetal alcohol spectrum disorder). He was prenatally exposed to alcohol and meth, we think, and was also neglected for the first year. Any one, or all, of these issues could cause a child to have a 'not normal' response to the world around them.

We used to play a game with him where he had to practice looking at our eyes. Every time he'd glance at our eyes while we were playing (one on one, he and one parent) he'd get one Smarties candy. Then he'd get one for every span of two seconds, then every 5 seconds, etc. until he could stare into our eyes. We'd keep upping the ante, and then we'd start staring into each other's eyes until we'd start giggling. We no longer give candies, but we do stare and giggle.

Sometimes kids who've had early childhood trauma don't know how to show their emotions and they actually have to be taught to do so. We do consciously spend more time patterning facial expressions with our little guy who was neglected, too. So we spend time smiling pointedly into his face, etc. We also got books from the library and would look at the faces of the characters in the books and talk about how they were feeling and asked him to guess how he thought they were feeling or thinking.

[qs mom]

My first thought was autism spectrum. But after reading the other posts, it reminded me of something.

My son was in an orphanage until he was almost 3. He was neglected there. He also has an Asperber's diagnosis.

He never really lacked facial expression. However, he didn't know how to cry or smile. He would show surprise and interest but the major things, happiness and pain he couldn't, he didn't know how.

I had to teach him. I had to teach him to trust me, to teach him that it was ok to cry, I would comfort him, I would answer his cries, no one ever had before.

So maybe no one ever taught her facial expressions. I overplayed an little boo boo, overexageratted smiles, etc. He started to imitate me and then just did it on his own when appropriate.

[nikkianni]

A friend's parent's adopted their almost 4-year-old granddaughter several years back. She had been taken away from their son's girlfriend for neglect. She didn't speak more than a couple of words, wasn't potty trained and had very flat facial expression.
She always looked really serious or even depressed.
Like the PP said, we all exaggerated everything we did. Everything was a big deal and did she see the bird or the butterfly? Isn't this the COOLEST balloon? That sort of thing.
Within six months, she was talking up a storm, incredibly animated, (and potty trained).
But like everyone else said, I'd still have an evaluation done to be on the safe side.

[greenrobin]

I know there is some kind of neurological disorder that makes it impossible to show facial expression, so of course an eval is a good idea.

You didn't say how long the little one has been with you, so she may just be guarding herself for now. When Sissy came, she didn't have any expressions beyond crying. She was an unbonded child. The only time she even appeared happy was when she had a visit with a grandmother. She'd smile a time or two and then go flat. With birthmom, all we ever saw was flat affect. Then as time passed and she learned to trust and started loving us, the smiles and frowns and excitement started showing on her face. She even transferred it to birth family--although she's still confused about her birth mom.

Call your ped or family doc and make sure everything is medically sound.