University launches research project into ‘facial blindness’
A documentation scheme is key to unlocking the world from severe restrictions on our lives
The largest-ever research project into the treatment of people with so-called "face blindness" has been launched.
Scientists at the University of Stirling are embarking on a three-year study into developmental prosopagnosia, which impairs a person's ability to recognise familiar faces.
It is known that face recognition abilities vary widely between individuals - some are 'super recognisers' who rarely forget a face, but at the other end of the spectrum between two and four children in every 100 have difficulties with face recognition.
Judith Lowes, who is leading the study, said: "Developmental prosopagnosia, or face blindness, is surprisingly common, affecting an estimated 300,000 children in the UK.
"It is unrelated to vision, intelligence and memory but those affected by it can have severe, lifelong problems recognising familiar faces. In some cases, people cannot recognise their immediate family, or even their own reflection. It can cause difficulties in making friends, and could pose a risk to children if they mistake a stranger for someone they know.
"Despite being common, developmental prosopagnosia is relatively unknown - even among health professionals and the NHS only recognised it as a condition in 2014.
"Little is known about its causes or whether children with it can be helped."
Experts believe the condition is partly caused when the visual mechanisms for face processing fail to develop.
The issue varies in severity from person to person. Those with the condition report profound negative psychosocial consequences, including anxiety and social isolation.
Frankie Respinger, 24, from Edinburgh, only suspected at the age of 17 that she was living with development prosopagnosia.
She said: "I attended a university open day and couldn't decide if I recognised a girl from my school. It was only later I realised that I had two classes with her every week and I actually sat next to her in one of them.
"When I told people about it, their responses of amusement and disbelief opened my eyes to the fact that it wasn't normal."
Ms Lowes is seeking children aged between seven and 17 to take part in the online study.
The owner of Pimlico Plumbers is not a man to back down easily in the face of opposition.
When Charlie Mullins declared last month that he intends to oblige new recruits to his business to have a vaccination, the idea led to widespread concern. He remains undeterred.
What would happen if other employers followed his lead and introduced ‘no jab, no job’ policies?
While the benefits of widespread inoculation are clear and obvious, the implications of such practices are unnerving.
An individual who was unable to vaccinated for medical reasons, or chose for whatever reason not to receive one, could be effectively frozen out of the job market.
It is an entirely legitimate concern which is currently preoccupying employment lawyers.
There are other worries, particularly that a scheme could turn out to be the thin end of a wedge of intrusion into our private lives.
It could soon, we are warned by critics, used to prevent us doing everything from buying a pint in a pub to going to the theatre. It may turn out to be, they say, the precursor of a national identity card scheme.
This newspaper is instinctively cautious about unwarranted intrusion by the state into the lives of its citizens.
The reality of the pandemic dictates, however, that a vaccine passport would be key to returning our freedoms, not the opposite. It is clear that this virus, with all its rapidly changing variants, is with us to stay.
That means that we will have to find ways of living with it and the dangers that it represents. We need to find ways to resume travel, both within our own borders and internationally, to allow our lives and economy to recover. Widespread vaccination and internationally accepted protocols for demonstrating we have that protection are the only means at our disposal to do this.
Clear legal restrictions on the legitimate use of these passports will be necessary to prevent abuses by any unscrupulous businesses or employers. Similar protections are already enshrined in consumer rights law. Fast-tracking a passport scheme should be the next priority after completing the smooth rollout of the vaccine.