Kindness and compassion came before intelligence and may have helped early humans develop reasoning skills and speech – according to researchers.

Empathy and compassion are important in being able to communicate in the modern world effectively.

But how and why did it develop in humans?

The Daily Mail has recently reported ….. “Early humans carried pebbles shaped like babies’ faces and appeared to care for disabled children in a sign they developed kindness and compassion millions of years before intelligence, researchers have claimed.

Evidence has been found that humans living more than 3million years ago may have looked after and even helped each other to survive before they learned to speak, and these emotions may have actually helped intelligence and reasoning evolve.

Researchers point to a skull, dating back 1.5 million years, found with no teeth, suggesting people in the group may have helped this early human find soft food to survive. And evidence of tracks found in east Africa – dating back 3.5million years – appear to show adults being followed by a child.

The findings, revealed in a study by Penny Spikins of York University, undermine current theories that early humans were characterised by violence and competition, killing each other in a desperate battle to survive.

‘Evolution made us sociable, living in groups and looking after each one another, even before we had language, ‘ Spikins, a human origins researcher, told the Sunday Times.

‘Our success since then, including the evolution of intelligence, all sprang from that.’

Spikins cites an early example of the Makapansgat pebble, found in a cave in South Africa with australopithecines – which date back approximately 3million years. She suggests the pebble, which has pits and markings shaped like a baby’s face, may have been carried several miles by these early humans because the markings reminded australopithecines of a child.

‘It is impossible for tell for sure but this is not the only tantalising sign of something perhaps approaching tenderness,’ she added.

Language skills and intelligence are thought to have developed in the past 500,000 years and maybe as late as 150,000 years ago.

In another example Spikins cites a Dmanisi skull, dating back 1.5million years, which showed evidence of someone surviving for years with no teeth. The group probably helped this early hominin, a Homo erectus found in Georgia, find soft food so it could survive.

Another Homo erectus skull was found in Kenya, which showed evidence of it being cared for after a long illness. Spikins also points to groups of Homo heidelbergensis, which lived around 450,000 years ago, who cared for disabled youngsters. A deformed skull of a child with learning difficulties from this period was found in Spain.

Evidence is also seen in some of the objects created by early man. A handaxe, believed to have been created around 250,000 years ago, was found in West Tofts in Norfolk with a fossilised scallop shell as the centrepiece. Rather than being purely functional, the presence of this scallop shell suggests early humans may have had a sense of aesthetics and creativity when creating the tool.

Spikins suggests that the combination of evidence of care and compassion, as well as creativity in making tools, is evidence of feelings millions of years ago. She said that while competition and fighting did happen it would have been a ‘risky’ business in the struggle to survive.

‘It suggests early humans, from 2million years ago, were emotionally similar to us,’ she added.  Spikins’ findings are to be published in a book, How Compassion Made Us Human.

Children and adults with autism spectrum disorder can find empathy difficult to recognise and also find it difficult to show empathy towards other people.

The National Autistic Society has produced an information sheet providing a brief overview of the Circle of Friends approach, which is used mainly in mainstream schools.

Background

The Circle of Friends approach originated in North America as one of a range of strategies to promote the inclusion into mainstream school of students with disabilities and difficulties (Whitaker et al, 1998).

The Circle of Friends approach recognises that a child who displays distressed and difficult behaviours is likely to suffer from isolation from their peer group, both in and out of school (Newton et al, 1996). This isolation or rejection can damage the child’s sense of self but acceptance and friendship can foster growth and enable the child, in turn, to contribute to the school community to which they belong (Whitaker et al 1998).

The Circle of Friends approach is often used to assist children with an ASD to develop their social and communication skills, as this is an area in which they will often have difficulties. As Howlin (1998) states, one of the most difficult and demanding tasks for children with autism is learning how to interact appropriately with children of their own age. As a result of these difficulties, individuals on the spectrum may lack the necessary skills to understand that friendships are based on mutual empathy and shared understanding (Leicester City Council & Leicestershire County Council, 1998). An individual with an ASD may be aware of his or her own difficulties and find it stressful and frustrating when their continuing attempts to make or maintain a friendship are not successful (Leicester City Council & Leicestershire County Council, 1998).

Circle of Friends is becoming a more widely used approach within UK schools and, unlike other interventions, is not based on ignoring difficult behaviour (Newton et al, 1996). It encourages the development of a support network for the child in focus within a structured setting, which can also extend beyond that setting. Those in the peer group are encouraged to look at their own behaviour and also to develop an understanding of the focus child’s behaviour and difficulties in order to develop strategies and practical solutions to help the individual. It is not an approach to provide instant friendship, but over the course of meetings and the evaluation of set targets, it is hoped that the focus child will be able to build closer and better relationships with other children (Barratt et al).

Aims of the Circle of Friends: –

Barrett et al outline the four main aims of Circle of Friends as:

• creating a support network for the focus child

• providing the child with encouragement and recognition for any achievements and progress

• working with the child to identify difficulties and devising practical ideas to help deal with these difficulties

• helping to put these ideas into practice.

Who needs to be involved in the Circle of Friends?

Barratt et al suggest the following sequence of cooperation and consent in order to reduce the risk of needlessly investing time and the risk of raising and dashing hopes.

Usually, the suggestion to use the Circle of Friends in a chosen school will be made by the school’s special needs coordinator (SENCO) or by the school’s educational psychologist. Once it has been suggested, it is necessary to discuss this with either the Headteacher or a head of department. It is important that they are aware of the approach and agree to it being implemented before it is established. Schools are normally chosen because they have a suitable supportive ethos and can commit to setting up and continuing the circle.

The next step is for the school to discuss using the approach with the parents/carers of the focus child and to gain consent from them. It is important that parents understand clearly how their child will be involved and what the aims of Circle of Friends are. Parents need to inform the school whether their child is aware of their diagnosis and whether they are willing for the class group to be informed of their child’s diagnosis. However, it is not essential for the class to know of the child’s diagnosis for it to run effectively. Circle of Friends can still be used even though the child may be unaware of their diagnosis. The peer group will be focusing on the child’s difficulties and behaviour, and not on the difficulties that children with an ASD are expected to have.

Once permission from the parents of the focus child has been granted, it will then be necessary to talk to the child about using the approach. The Circle of Friends can only be established if the focus child consents to it. The adult who is responsible for explaining Circle of Friends to the child needs to do this in a subjective manner. The adult will need to explain it in a way that ensures the child understands how it will be set up and who will be involved, but the child must not be misguided into expecting unrealistic outcomes from the group. A child may respond with a positive or negative reaction to the proposal. They may focus on high expectations of what the Circle of Friends may offer, or by contrast may not focus on what the group is about at all, but rather on missing part of a favourite lesson or break time in order for the group to be established. It is useful for both parents and school staff to talk to the child about their involvement in the group and to remain open to any questions that the child may ask in order to understand it fully.

It is also necessary for the parents of the volunteer circle members to be informed about their child’s involvement in the suggested Circle of Friends. This is in order to provide an explanation about the approach, to inform them that outside agencies (educational psychologists/autism outreach workers or other professionals) will be involved in setting up the circle, and to give parents the option not to involve their child in the Circle.

For more information go to the Daily Mail article and the Autism uk website

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Written by Rachel Harrison, speech and language therapist, on behalf of Integrated Treatment Services.