The autistic lecturerLife is often an act for Ros Blackburn who is constantly applying rules that help her make sense of the world around her and live in it.
When someone extends a hand - shake it, according to one rule. But if you are holding a packet of sweets and someone puts out a hand, give them one.
Don't leave your bag unattended in a place where there are many people you have never seen before. The same rule applies to a wallet or jacket... An endless string of such rules helps Ms Blackburn cope with autism.
While people usually learn social behaviour instinctively, Ms Blackburn has had to devise her own method.
"I learnt it all artificially. It's so rehearsed now that it's instilled," she says before adding: "I can only know what I am taught or told or shown".
Mr Blackburn explains that at 18 months old she was diagnosed as severely autistic but with average intellectual ability.
Fast forward a few decades and the remarkable English woman from Essex, now 40, lectures internationally to share her experiences with autism.
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