The study findings support the hypothesis that neglected children have an early deficit in EK compared to non-neglected children, controlling for IQ. Children were 48.4 months old when seen initially. The mean time between the age 4 and age 5 assessments was 12.4 months (+/-5 month; age M=50.1, SD=1.5). The children were given the Test of Nonverbal Intelligence for Children to estimate IQ (TONI-3; Brown, Sherbenou, & Johnsen, 1997) as part of the longitudinal protocol in a separate visit following the final EK assessment. Three tasks were administered in a fixed order at each age: (a) labeling, (b) expression recognition, and (c) matching expression to context. Neglected children’s deficit in EK was evident across all three components. Neglected children also recognized the fewest and assigned few expressions to context appropriately. The data suggests that without intervention, neglected children will continue to show poor EK as they enter the school system at age 5. It is suggested that such deficits can affect the children’s interactions with teachers, peers, and their own emotion coping. Participants were 53 children from urban neighborhoods in central New Jersey and Philadelphia. Nineteen children (10 boys, 9 girls) were neglected as verified by Child Protective Services records. The remaining 29 children (15 boys, 14 girls) who had no record at enrollment or 1-year followup were the comparison group. Table, references