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There are two main differences between classic autism and Asperger's syndrome, according to Simon Baron-Cohen, the co-director of the Autism Research Centre in Cambridge, England. First, folks with autism tend to have a language delay or start talking later in life, and they also have a below average IQ. People with Asperger's syndrome tend to have an average or above average IQ, and they start speaking within the expected age range.

"I think depression may be more of a problem with AS. People with classic autism may be much more focused on their own private world, and unaware of what they are missing out on," Baron-Cohen says. People with Asperger's syndrome might be more aware of what they are not achieving socially

Are these symptoms and signs are enough to differential diagnosis ?

I already know of the EQ questionnaire (Baron-Cohen & Wheelwright, 2004). Is there another one that I can access as a student and send out to others for a comparison?

I have used PONS (Rosenthal 1979) and Mind in Eyes (Baron-Cohen 2001), but these are fairly dated. Are there any new methods to assess someone's ability to read nonverbal cues, emotions, or affect?

I am interested in whether there is evidence that mothers of autistic children have a higher than usual risk of producing sons. (Baron-Cohen has hypothesized that exposure to high levels of intrauterine testosterone produces autism. And I have hypothesized that high levels of testosterone predispose a woman (or a man) to produce sons.

William H James

Just got this email anf thought some of you may be interested :)

"Dear Colleague

I thought that you and your colleagues may be interested in hearing about this year’s Battle of Ideas festival, taking place at the Royal College of Art, London on October 29-30. During the course of the weekend, over 2,250 people will be participating in 75 different debates involving hundreds of incisive and thought-provoking speakers.

This year’s festival programme includes strands of debate entitled Battle for the World, Battle for Morality, Food Fight, Society Wars, Battle for Our Brains, and Reassessing Politics and Sporting Contests.

It also features keynote debates on: The Battle against the Fates, Profiting responsibly? Business in the big society, Creativity and curiosity: do we make stuff up or find it out? Has tolerance gone too far? Loyalty in an age of whistle-blowing and Wikileaks, Is individualism bad for society? as well as many more discussions on current themes in the arts, science, health, parenting, education, design, international relations and religion.

Internationally renowned speakers include: David Aaronovitch, Jonathan Aitken, Decca Aitkenhead, Anne Atkins, Simon Baron-Cohen, Daniel Ben-Ami, Katharine Birbalsingh, Melvin Burgess, Christopher Caldwell, Matthew Collings, John Cooper, Giles Fraser, Frank Furedi, Maurice Glasman, Tom Holland, Mick Hume, Sue Ion, Rebecca Jenkins, Simon Jenkins, Irma Kurtz, Philippe Legrain, Dame Ann Leslie, Kenan Malik, Paul Mason, Joyce McMillan, Tim Montgomerie, Brendan O’Neill, Ruth Padel, K.A.S. Quinn, Jeffrey Rosen, Jenni Russell, William Saletan, Fiona Shaw, John Sutherland, George Szirtes, Ray Tallis, GM Tamás, Mark Vernon, Tom Watt, Zoe Williams, Alison Wolf, Martin Wolf, Cathy Young and over 300 more.

To provide a taster of the festival, a series of standalone Battle Satellite events will be held across London, the UK and worldwide. Topics for debate range from happiness in Athens and the future of Indian democracy in New Delhi, to Croydon after the riots. The Battle Satellites look to address the challenges facing society in a fast-changing and increasingly globalised age. Foyles at Charing Cross Road will host debates on the oversexualisation of children, and what boys should be reading. The Battle Satellite programme began on Friday 30 September with a special free debate on the future of manufacturing at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum Friday Late, and with over 25 national and international events, the boundaries of public debate will certainly continue to expand beyond the main festival weekend.

Visit http://www.battleofideas.org.uk to view this year’s festival programme, including satellite events, as well as carefully selected readings for each session and videos of previous years’ sessions.

** School students aged 16-18 are able to attend a day of the festival for free (the second day costing only £10) email schoolschampion@instituteofideas.com. There are also a limited number of HALF PRICE Student Champion tickets, allowing university students full access to the weekend festival for just £27.50. Click here to purchase discounted tickets. **

Tickets are available through online booking : www.battleofideas.org.uk , or by phone: 0207 269 9220."

We are currently developing a new video stimulus set for an emotion regulation study that involves distraction and reappraisal strategies. However, we are uncertain how to assess the stimuli's reappraisal affordances.

Previous research has explored various situational factors that may influence the implementation of reappraisal, and one potential factor is reappraisal affordance (Suri et al., 2018). Reappraisal affordance refers to the opportunities presented by a situation or stimulus that allow for reinterpretation. To determine potential moderating effects, we want to evaluate the stimuli's reappraisal affordances.

We are having difficulty selecting an appropriate question to assess the stimuli's reappraisal affordances, as the definition seems ambiguous, and distinguishing it from reappraisal inventiveness (individual differences in the ability to spontaneously generate different reappraisals) is challenging.

Is reappraisal affordance about the number of opportunities or their effectiveness? Can and should this be separated?

Based on previous studies, we are currently considering asking the following question: "How easy and possible was it for you to generate an effective reappraisal?"

Previous studies asked for reappraisal affordances as follows:

- Please rate how easy it will be for you to think of the scenario differently, to decrease your negative emotion. (Cohen Ben Simon et al., 2022)

- How easy was it to find a reappraisal that was effective in reducing negative emotion? (Suri et al., 2018)

- How easy was it to generate a reappraisal that reduced your negative emotions while viewing the image you just saw? (Young & Suri, 2019)

Question: However, we would like your opinion on whether this question captures the stimuli's reappraisal affordances or the rater's reappraisal inventiveness trait (Weber, Assunção, Martin, Westmeyer & Geisler, 2014). Can they be separated and if, what is a convenient question to capture reappraisal affordances of the stimuli? We would greatly appreciate your input, and thank you in advance for your help!

Dr Nicola Martin. CV : 2013

n.martin@lse.ac.uk 07948545783

Degrees /qualifications

UK. B.Ed. (hons:2.1) special education (qualified teacher status), MA (with specialist dyslexia qualifications). PhD (Asperger syndrome, identity and inclusion). USA Rotary Scholar. University of Virginia. M.Ed. special education, PhD(Autism and higher education). Various qualifications in management, counselling, internal / external verification, adult literacy, workplace basic skills, PhD supervision, ICT, dyslexia, British Sign Language.

Employment

Work with disabled people in education for over 30 years as a special school /hospital teacher, researcher, lecturer and senior manager. Currently Head of LSE Wellbeing and Disability Services. Previously; Principal Lecture, Sheffield Hallam University, leading the Centre for Disability and Diversity Studies, The Autism Centre and Disability Services (4 years). Prior to Hallam; Divisional Head, University Principal Tutor, Head of School, Senior Lecturer at University of Derby /High Peak College, specialising in disability studies, intellectual impairment, adult literacy and disability services, managing franchise and extensive outreach and collaboration.(13 years). Additional roles include (currently): Honorary Visiting Fellow, University of Cambridge working with Professor Simon Baron-Cohen, Fellow, Sheffield Hallam, external examiner, Editor of The Journal of Inclusive Practice in Further and Higher Education, PhD supervisor and examiner. (Previously):Senior Parliamentary Policy Adviser, British Dyslexia Association, Inclusive Learning Quality Initiative facilitator, Learning and Skills Council, Chair of The National Association of Disability Practitioners (NADP), Vice Chair National Network of Assessment Centres (NNAC).

Conference Presentations /Consultancy

Delivered The Cambridge University Annual Disability Lecture 2011. Visiting international lecturer /consultant /conference presenter /keynote in Australia, Europe, Hong Kong, India, Japan, New Zealand, USA. Numerous UK conference presentations including for Equality Challenge Unit, NADP,NNAC, Public Policy Exchange, as well as many universities. Presented The LSE First Annual Disability Identity Conference in 2011. Numerous publications ( refer to list).

Public Bodies /Service

Finalist in RADAR Person of the Year 2011.Associate member British Dyslexia Association. Accredited member NADP. Borough Councillor (4 years). School College Governor-member of University Council (13 years). Contributor to numerous university and national committees mainly on equality and diversity themes /disability /autism.

Selected Publications (*** indicates externally funded research)

Martin N (2000): Widening opportunities for students with Asperger's syndrome. Widening Participation and Lifelong Learning. The Journal of the Institute for Access Studies and the European Access Network. Open University (2) August 2000:42-48

Institute for Access Studies and The European Access Network. Open University 2 (2) August 2000: 42-48

Martin N (2002) A studies of possible indicators for specific learning difficulties in children with Asperger's syndrome. Good Autism Practice. 3( 1) 2002:58-62

Martin N (2005): Asperger's syndrome in the workplace. Potential difficulties and straight forward solutions. The SKILL Journal 81:30-34

Martin N (2006): Strategies which increase the likelihood of success at university of students with Asperger's syndrome. Good Autism Practice7(2)2006:51-60

Martin N (2006): At ruste studerende med Asperger’s syndrome til at klare en universitetsuddannelse-god praksis for de ansatte. Autismebladet 2:14-18

Martin N (2007): Personal statements. Helping transition to further education and employment. Good Autism Practice 8 (2) :17-21

Madriaga M, Goodley D, Hodge N, Martin N (2008): Enabling transitions into higher education for students with Asperger syndrome. Higher Education Academy www.heacademy.ac.uk/projects/details/projectfinder/projects/pf29711r ***

Martin N (2008a): REAL services to assist university students who have Asperger syndrome. NADP Technical Briefing 10/08 ***

Martin N (2008b): A template for improving provision for students with Asperger syndrome. In further and higher education. NADP Technical Briefing 11/ 08 ***

Martin N, Beardon L, Hodge N, Goodley D, Madriaga M (2008): Towards an inclusive environment for university students who have Asperger syndrome. Journal of Inclusive Practice in Further and Higher Education.(JIPFHE) 1(1):3-14

Martin N (2008c): Empathy is a two way street. In Pollak D (ed) Neurodiversity in Higher Education: Positive responses to specific learning differences. Oxford, John Wiley

Martin N (2009a):Inclusive practice in the workplace. The Employers Handbook (2009):215-220. British Dyslexia Association. Reading

Martin N (2009b): Feeling special –a grown up’s guide. Reflections on an adult diagnosis of dyspraxia. Journal of Inclusive Practice in Further and Higher Education.1(2):57-70

Beardon L, Martin N, Woolsey I (2009): What do students with Asperger syndrome and high functioning autism want from college and university-in their own words. Good Autism Practice.10(2):35-44 ***

Martin N (2010): A preliminary study of disability themes in the Edinburgh fringe festival. Disability and Society 25 (5):539-549 ***

Hendrickx S, Martin N(2011): Insights into intimacy from people with Asperger syndrome and their partners. Good Autism Practice:12(1):26-34

Martin N(2011a): Disability Identity. Disability Pride. Perspectives. Policy and practice in higher education. Journal of the Association of University Administrators. 2011:1-6 Routledge Taylor and Francis

Martin N (2011b) Progressing disability equality in further and higher education in the majority world. Could NADP help? Journal of Inclusive Practice in Further and Higher Education. 3(1):18-25

B

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Martin N (2011c). Disability identity-disability pride. 9th Annual Cambridge University Disability Lecture. 24 March 2011 at St. John's College, Cambridge

www.admin.cam.ac.uk/univ/disability/lecture/pdf/2011_transcription.pdf

Martin N (2011d): Promoting inclusive practice for PhD students near completion. Journal of Inclusive Practice in Further and Higher Education 3(2):37-52

Atkinson R, Evans S, Gandy C,Graham C, Hendrickx S, Jackson V, Martin N (2011):A Buddy Scheme - Supporting transition and progression for students identified with Asperger Syndrome :Journal of Inclusive Practice in Further and Higher Education 3(2)109-124 ***

Martin N (2011e) The Long View: Disabled children become adults

O'Keefe, J (Ed) 2011 'Towards a Positive Future: stories, ideas and inspiration from children with special educational needs, their families and professionals' 97-100 J & R Press

Martin N, Cliffe E (2012): Assisting mathematics students who have Asperger syndrome. Good Practice on Inclusive Curricula in The Mathematical Sciences. Cliffe E, Rowlett P. (eds) The Higher Education Academy Maths Stats and OR Network. National STEM HE Programme. http://mathstore.ac.uk/node/2095 ***

Joanna Hastwell J, Martin N, Baron- Cohen S, Harding J (2012)Giving Cambridge University students with Asperger syndrome a voice: a qualitative, interview- based study towards developing a model of best practice. 56-64. GAP. May 2012 ***

Logan J, Martin N (2012)Unusual Talent: a Study of Successful Leadership and Delegation in Entrepreneurs who have Dyslexia” Journal of Inclusive Practice in Further and Higher Education 4(1). October 2012 .129-229 ***

Martin N (2013). Disability equality in post school education, in Cameron C.(ed)2013. Disability Studies, a student guide. Sage. (in press)