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ScienceGeek

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  1. Problems processing visual information may stop those with autism interpreting body language, harming their ability to gauge others' emotions, a study says.

     

    Researchers say people with autism have problems recognising physical displays of emotion, but also general difficulty perceiving certain sorts of motion.

     

    They suggest in Neuropsychologia this may contribute to problems with social interaction, characteristic of autism.

     

    The National Autistic Society said the UK study was an interesting one.

     

    A team from the University of Durham studied 13 adults with autism and found the patients had difficulty identifying emotions such as anger or happiness when shown short animated video clips.

     

    Silent movies

     

    The characters had no faces, nor did they speak, so the participants were asked to judge the emotion based on the body language of the figure alone.

     

    Along with 16 adults with no autism diagnosis, they were also shown a number of dots on a computer screen and asked which way they were moving. A proportion of dots moved noticeably to the left or right, while the others moved randomly.

     

    The way people move their bodies tells us a lot about their feelings or intentions, and we use this information on a daily basis to communicate with each other

    Anthony Atkinson

    Lead author

     

    The performance of the autism group was significantly below that of the others in both tests, leading researchers to speculate that there may be serious differences between the ability to process visual information.

     

    They point to an area of the brain needed for the perception of motion called the superior temporal sulcus, and cite previous research which has found that this area responds differently in people with autism.

     

    "The way people move their bodies tells us a lot about their feelings or intentions, and we use this information on a daily basis to communicate with each other.

     

    "We use others' body movements and postures, as well as people's faces and voices, to gauge their feelings," said Anthony Atkinson, who led the research.

     

    "People with autism are less able to use these cues to make accurate judgements about how others are feeling.

     

    "We now need to look further to see how exactly this happens and how this may combine with potential difficulties in attention."

     

    It is thought as many as half a million people in the UK have a form of autism, a lifelong developmental disability which can severely affect how a person makes sense of the world around them.

     

    Gina Gomez De La Cuesta, of the National Autistic Society, said the study was an interesting one.

     

    "It certainly takes us on. We know of these problems with emotion recognition but to start to unpick the reasons why is helpful. There appear to be difficulties at the very basic processing level.

     

    "But we really need to see this repeated in more people and then we can start thinking about how we act on it."

     

     

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8183447.stm


  2. My old GP has it, but the practice I go to now is really small so doesn't have it. Then again my old GP sent out reminders when my next injection is due (every 12 weeks so real easy to forget) this one doesn't (the last 2 injections I've been 6 weeks late, which obviously isn't good) :unsure:


  3. My old GP was under that system and it is ridiculous. It makes it near on impossible to get an appointment unless you have the number on speed dial and happen to be attached to the phone for that time of the morning. It doesn't make it easy for people who have to plan appointments into a hectic schedule (like my wife has to). :wallbash: I'm lucky that my current GP isn't like that, just book an appointment and certain amount kept free for emergencies :notworthy:


  4. I have no idea what my accent is doing anymore. It seems to be a mix between east london, west country with a few americanisms slipping in too. I pick up accents real easy, when we had an american friend stay I noticed I picked up some of her accent (rhode island :lol: )


  5. The government is planning on axing AA and giving the money directly to the authorities (social services etc) in the form of a personalised budget. What about those who aren't involved with social services and the DLA money is something that props them up so they can provide care themselves without the worry of the lost income from not working full time. Benefits and work are doing a campaign - I've signed the petition - http://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/disabilit...la)/dla-aa-cuts


  6. It's because of where the pot of money is coming from. I had to have a social services assessment first and now just waiting for the referral to be done, but they still don't know if they have anyone qualified.. Who knew trying to get to see an OT would be so much freaking hassle?


  7. My googlefu is failing me at finding any credible sources for it right now. The page that jaded linked has been taken down thats why it isn't working. I think it is interesting if there is a link I've been diagnosed with AS, dyspraxia and dyslexia, my mum was recently diagnosed as dyslexic and I know plenty in my family on mums side that are either on the spectrum or have a SpLD.


  8. I was wondering if it was quite common practice for schools to withold information from parents? Me and my mum were talking about school recently when she was visiting and it is amazing just how much she didn't know about what went on in school. Like she didn't know until a few years after I left that I was in counselling for nearly the whole time I was in secondary school, had anger management, social skills training and the list goes on. It seems to me she actually knew relatively little about what went on, reports gave no indiction on how much I was struggling just that I needed to concentrate more and stop daydreaming but that was about it. I'm just curious thats all. :wacko:


  9. Well when they diagnose IBS they are supposed to rule out other conditions such as coeliac or lactose intolerance. When I was diagnosed with IBS they didn't bother doing that, and IBS medication hasn't really done much for me. The IBS diagnosis was about 5 years ago, and GP thinks that other things should be ruled out first. :unsure:

     

    I would get it checked out purple as if it is coeliac then it can have long term consequences, plus you would know what to do if that were the case.

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