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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More than 32 million people have been given a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Jabs have been offered to everyone aged 50 and over, health and care workers and clinically vulnerable.
Phase 2 of the vaccination programme begins this week, with people aged 45 to 49 invited to book their appointments.
The UK is moving into the next phase of the COVID-19 vaccination programme as the government hits its target to offer everybody in phase 1 of the vaccination programme a jab.
Everybody in cohorts 1 to 9 – those aged 50 and over, the clinically vulnerable and health and social care workers – has been offered a vaccine, meeting the government’s 15 April target ahead of time.
This group accounts for 99% of all COVID-19 deaths during the pandemic, so by offering them the vaccine, we are helping ensure the most vulnerable are protected from the virus.
The significant milestone marks the beginning of phase 2 of the vaccination programme and people aged 45 to 49 in England can now book appointments through the NHS booking service.
Whilst the government has indicated that it may make vaccination compulsory for those working in Nursing homes it says it is unlikely to make it mandatory for those working in home care despite 70% of providers indicating that this would be their preference.
Matt Hancock has told MPs in Parliament that COVID-19 vaccination won’t be compulsory for home care workers, unlike staff working in care homes who care for people who are “the highest risk of all”. His words follow the government’s decision to launch a five-week consultation looking into whether or not it should introduce legislation to make Covid vaccination a condition of employment for care home staff. For more on this story visit the
homecare.co.uk website.
