I read a whole lot. Here I intend to post links to articles about dating, social skills, cognition, autism spectrum disorders, psychology, or really anything that I think might be relevant and/or interesting to people like me.
Researchers at the University of North Carolina have just published a study showing that the amygdala is, on average, 13 percent larger in toddlers with autism. The enlarged amygdala is correlated with joint attention difficulty, a key characteristic of autism.
My wife just sent me a link to the following paper, published in the September 2007 issue of European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (Vol. 16 Issue 6, p405-410, 6p). Unfortunately, the full article isn't available for free, but if you're interested, I'm sure you can get a copy at your local library. I think it's safe for me to post the abstract, so here it is.
Abstract: To investigate cognitive development in preschool-age children diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD; N = 39) compared with that of children diagnosed with mental retardation (MR; N = 14) and normally developing children (NC; N = 36). In a prospective longitudinal study, cognitive development was tested at age 24 months (T1; SD = 6 months) and 43 months (T2; SD = 5). Group IQ scores were stable between T1 and T2 as evidenced by high correlations ( r = .81, P < .01) and consistency of average group scores. At the same time however, about a third of children with ASD showed an increase of cognitive scores of 15 points or more. This increase of IQ was correlated with lower scores at the early screening of autistic traits (ESAT) at T1, higher IQ level at T2 and higher expressive language skills at T2. Intensity of treatment was not related to IQ increase. High correlations between cognitive scores in preschool children with ASD suggest that measurements of cognitive function are valid at this age. We found indications of both stability and change of IQ scores. Findings suggest that some children with ASD show catch-up intellectual development. To the best of our knowledge, this increase in IQ scores cannot be attributed to treatment effects.
Title: Stability and change of IQ scores in preschool children
diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorder.
Authors: Dietz,
Claudine; Swinkels, Sophie H. N.; Buitelaar, Jan K.; Van Daalen,
Emma; Van Engeland, Herman
Audrey Eschright just wrote a post entitled Dear Fellow Rubyists about sometimes feeling marginalized as one of only a few females programming in the language Ruby. She writes "I don't want to have to 'act like a guy' in order to be here. I am very frustrated that the Ruby and Rails leadership is male-dominated and does not seem to view the lack of female participation as a significant threat to the health of the technology (as well as the community)."
Scientific American just published What If Vitamin D Deficiency Is a Cause of Autism?, which raises an as-yet-untested idea based on a study of Somali immigrants to both Stockholm and Minnesota. The incidence of autism spectrum disorders among the children with a Somali background was three to four times that of non-Somalis. In summer sun, light-skinned people produce about 1000 IUs of vitamin D per minute, while those with darker skin synthesize it more slowly.
Interesting....
In the 1994 article Intuitive Equals Familiar, the late human-computer interface expert Jef Raskin argued that "it is clear that a user interface feature is 'intuitive' insofar as it resembles or is identical to something the user has already learned. In short, 'intuitive' in this context is an almost exact synonym of 'familiar.'"
In light of my own difficulty picking up on "obvious" social norms, I find this a fascinating discussion.
Since many aspies have trouble reading facial expressions and other forms of non-verbal communication, I've often recommended The Nonverbal Dictionary to my students.
Note: the original location of this resource is no longer available, so I've linked to a copy on the Internet Archive. Hopefully this will continue to work until I can find a more permanent link.
Paul Graham is a programmer, author, venture capitalist and dotcom millionaire. In high school, however, he was just a nerd. Why Nerds are Unpopular is a 2003 essay with a nerd's perspective on popularity in American public schools.
A person's face will always reveal his true feelings -- if you are quick enough to recognize microexpressions. A Look Tells All, from the October 2006 issue of Scientific American Mind, explains the work of psychology professor Paul Ekman, who is also the basis for the character Cal Lightman of the television series Lie to Me.
Mark Haddon is an excellent author, to be sure. He teaches creative writing and as a young man worked with autistic individuals. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is a superb work of fiction written from the point of view of an autistic teen. More than just an enjoyable read, however, the book also does a good job letting you see the world from a different perspective. Not only did I really like this book, I identified quite a bit with the protagonist. Highly recommended reading.
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