People with autism are less able to accurately identify anger from a person’s facial expression, according to new research.

The study by the University of Birmingham also found that for people with the related disorder of alexithymia, all facial expressions appear to be more intensely emotional.

The question of how people with autism recognise and relate to emotional expression has been discussed by scientists for over three decades. But it is only in the past 10 years that the relationship between autism and alexithymia has been explored.

This new study published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, uses new techniques to look at how autism and alexithymia affects a person’s ability to accurately gauge the emotions suggested by different facial expressions.

Connor Keating, a PhD researcher in the University of Birmingham’s School of Psychology and Centre for Human Brain Health, is lead author of the study. He says: “We identified that autistic people had a specific difficulty recognising anger which we are starting to think may relate to differences in the way autistic and non-autistic people produce these expressions.

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Comic legend Sir Lenny Henry has joined with ‘12 Years a Slave’ actor Chiwetel Ejiofer, actress Thandie Newton and other black celebrities to urge black Britons to have the coronavirus vaccine.

TV comic legend Lenny Henry reads his letter in the short film. Credit: DHSC

Sir Lenny Henry has written an open letter urging black Britons to go and have the COVID-19 vaccine and a short film based on his letter will be aired on Channel 5 and Sky between 8pm and 9.30pm tonight (30 March).

’When your turn comes take the vaccine’

Sir Lenny Henry’s letter includes the words: ‘Dear mums, dads, grandparents, uncles, aunties, brothers, sisters, nephew, nieces, daughters, sons and cousins. We love you!

‘And we want to see you again. Covid-19 has kept us apart for far too long. We want to hug you, we want to celebrate with you, we want to go out for dinner with you, we want to worship with you, we want to go and watch football and cricket with you, we want to beat you at video games – in the same room so we can see the look on your face when we do.

‘But in order to do all that – we all need to take the Covid-19 jab. It’s all of us in this together.

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Captain Sir Tom Moore, who raised over £32m for NHS charities by walking a hundred laps of his garden in Bedfordshire, has died in hospital after testing positive for COVID-19.

The 100-year-old, who was knighted for his fundraising efforts by the Queen last year, brought hope to people during lockdown.

He had been unable to have the Covid vaccine as he had been struggling with pneumonia over the past few weeks. On Sunday he was admitted to Bedford Hospital as he needed help with his breathing.

In a statement, Capt Sir Tom’s daughters, Hannah Ingram-Moore and Lucy Teixeira said: “It is with great sadness that we announce the death of our dear father, Captain Sir Tom Moore.

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