Do aspergers have empathy

Autism, Asperger's, and Empathy: Know the Facts

Autism, Asperger's, and Empathy: Know the Facts | Psych Central

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Medically reviewed by Alex Klein, PsyD — By Kimberly Drake — Updated on June 29, 2021

One of the biggest misconceptions about autistic people is that they lack empathy. Is there any truth to this belief?

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental condition characterized by social, communication, and behavioral differences.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 8-year-old children, an estimated 1 in 54 was identified as having ASD in 2016.

Autistic disorder, pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS), and Asperger’s syndrome were once separately diagnosed disorders. They now fall under the diagnosis of ASD in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.). Still, some autistic people prefer to identify as either autistic or having Asperger’s.

One of the hallmarks of ASD is difficulties in social communication. This may manifest as challenges relating with others, showing little interest in other people, and difficulties with receptive and expressive language.

But do these challenges mean an autistic person can’t be empathetic?

Research into autism and empathy has evolved over the years. Initially, it was thought that the absence of empathy was a characteristic found in all autistic people. However, we now know this trait exists on a spectrum in people with ASD, just as it does in neurotypical individuals.

Autistic people think differently, which can be one of their many strengths. Yet, because of this, some of their social interactions and behaviors are often misunderstood.

This can cause some people to perceive their methods of interacting and behaviors as a lack of empathy.

For example, an autistic person may seem unaware when others are experiencing emotional distress or respond inappropriately in a social situation.

To a person who isn’t autistic, these behaviors may come across as cold or harsh, leading them to believe autistic people are not empathetic.

Research from 2018 has shown that autistic people may have difficulties with cognitive empathy (recognizing another person’s emotional state) but not affective empathy (the ability to feel another’s emotional state and a drive to respond to it).

For example, they may see someone struggling to carry a load of groceries yet not realize they may need help (cognitive empathy). However, they might notice the person has become upset about it and ask why (affective empathy).

Empathy also requires the social communication skill of “reading between the lines” and deciphering how another person may feel in a situation. For autistic individuals, this may be challenging due to a tendency to think literally.

For instance, if you were to ask an autistic person, “Do you like my new haircut?” and they don’t care for it, they may say no without understanding how that response may make you feel.

So, perhaps it’s the combination of social difficulties and deficits in cognitive empathy that may create the impression autistic people aren’t empathetic. When in reality, they are — it just presents in ways that may not meet society’s expectations.

According to Eric Mikoleit, director of Lakeland STAR School/Academy — a charter school in Minocqua, Wisconsin, that specializes in educating autistic students and diverse learners, “social communication barriers, narrow interests, and attention to detail” are some of the reasons autistic people may have difficulties expressing empathy.

But, he says, they do have empathy — however, the “levels of empathy vary significantly among individuals.”

Autistic people often need direct instruction on identifying the emotional states of others and learning to label their own feelings.

Mikoleit says these skills can be enhanced in autistic students by using modeling, teaching them how to recognize and label the emotions of others, and the actions they must take in response to those emotions.

He says there are curriculum plans specifically designed to help with teaching these skills.

According to a meta-analysis, around 50% of autistic people also have alexithymia — a condition characterized by difficulties with understanding and articulating one’s emotions, including empathy. So, the coexistence of this condition may partly explain the misconception that all autistic people lack empathy.

However, a 2020 research report indicates that it’s the presence of alexithymia and not autism that impacts attachments to others, including their parents. Though attachment and empathy aren’t the same, they are related.

Further studies suggest the deficits in emotional facial expression often thought of as ASD-specific may actually be due to alexithymia and not autism.

Still, while these studies may offer some insight, it’s unknown just how much alexithymia contributes to the differences in empathy among autistic individuals.

Another reason people may think autistic individuals lack empathy is because of a mismatch in communication between autistic and neurotypical people.

Research suggests that when two autistic individuals interact, they have the same level of rapport as two neurotypical people. However, when an autistic person interacts with a non-autistic individual, there is a tendency for miscommunication.

Also, other research suggests that recognizing facial emotional expressions can sometimes be a challenge for someone with ASD. And because people with ASD might not display many facial expressions themselves, it can be difficult for neurotypical people to read their emotional state.

This may cause the neurotypical person to think the autistic person lacks empathy. When in reality, the neurotypical person also lacks an empathetic understanding of the autistic person’s perspective.

This double empathy problem theory highlights the need for greater understanding and acceptance of autism. It also indicates a need for more understanding of how an autistic person thinks and feels.

Levels of empathy vary significantly among all people, including those with ASD. For autistic individuals who also have alexithymia, understanding empathy may be more of a challenge.

But for most, the differences in thinking patterns, social communication, and behaviors associated with ASD may be why some folks mistakenly believe an autistic person lacks empathy.

Helping someone with ASD learn to recognize the emotional state of others through direct instruction is one way to enhance their ability to empathize with others effectively.

However, neurotypical people can also be a part of this solution by learning how autistic individuals think, feel, and communicate.

Approaching empathy in this way could perhaps bridge the communication gap and foster the acceptance and understanding autistic people deserve.

For more information, the following organizations offer resources and support for the autism community:

Autism Society of America
Autism Self Advocacy Network
Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network
Autism Research Institute

Last medically reviewed on June 29, 2021

9 sourcescollapsed

Autism spectrum disorder. (2020).
cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/features/new-asd-prevalence-numbers-show-gaps-are-closing.html
Brewer R, et al. (2016). Can neurotypical individuals read autistic facial expressions? Atypical production of emotional facial expressions in autism spectrum disorders.
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4975602/
Cook R, et al. (2013). Alexithymia, not autism, predicts poor recognition of emotional facial expressions.
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0956797612463582
DeThorne LS. (2020). Revealing the double empathy problem.
leader.pubs.asha.org/doi/10.1044/leader.FTR2.25042020.58
Fletcher-Watson S, et al. (2019). Autism and empathy: What are the real links?
journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1362361319883506
Giannotti M, et al. (2020). Alexithymia, not autism spectrum disorder, predicts perceived attachment to parents in school-age children.
frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00332/full
Kinnaird E, et al. (2018). Investigating alexithymia in autism: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6331035/
Mikoleit E. (2021). Personal Interview.
Warrier V, et al. (2018). Genome-wide analyses of self-reported empathy: correlations with autism, schizophrenia, and anorexia nervosa.
nature.com/articles/s41398-017-0082-6

FEEDBACK:

Medically reviewed by Alex Klein, PsyD — By Kimberly Drake — Updated on June 29, 2021

All About Autism
What Are the Symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorder?
Asperger’s vs. Autism: What Exactly Is the Difference?
How Is Autism Diagnosed?
Autism Fact Sheet: What Should I Know About Autism Spectrum Disorder?

Autism, Asperger's, and Empathy: Know the Facts

Autism, Asperger's, and Empathy: Know the Facts | Psych Central

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Medically reviewed by Alex Klein, PsyD — By Kimberly Drake — Updated on June 29, 2021

One of the biggest misconceptions about autistic people is that they lack empathy. Is there any truth to this belief?

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental condition characterized by social, communication, and behavioral differences.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 8-year-old children, an estimated 1 in 54 was identified as having ASD in 2016.

But do these challenges mean an autistic person can’t be empathetic?

Autistic people think differently, which can be one of their many strengths. Yet, because of this, some of their social interactions and behaviors are often misunderstood.

This can cause some people to perceive their methods of interacting and behaviors as a lack of empathy.

For example, an autistic person may seem unaware when others are experiencing emotional distress or respond inappropriately in a social situation.

To a person who isn’t autistic, these behaviors may come across as cold or harsh, leading them to believe autistic people are not empathetic.

For instance, if you were to ask an autistic person, “Do you like my new haircut?” and they don’t care for it, they may say no without understanding how that response may make you feel.

But, he says, they do have empathy — however, the “levels of empathy vary significantly among individuals.”

Autistic people often need direct instruction on identifying the emotional states of others and learning to label their own feelings.

He says there are curriculum plans specifically designed to help with teaching these skills.

Further studies suggest the deficits in emotional facial expression often thought of as ASD-specific may actually be due to alexithymia and not autism.

Still, while these studies may offer some insight, it’s unknown just how much alexithymia contributes to the differences in empathy among autistic individuals.

Another reason people may think autistic individuals lack empathy is because of a mismatch in communication between autistic and neurotypical people.

This double empathy problem theory highlights the need for greater understanding and acceptance of autism. It also indicates a need for more understanding of how an autistic person thinks and feels.

Levels of empathy vary significantly among all people, including those with ASD. For autistic individuals who also have alexithymia, understanding empathy may be more of a challenge.

But for most, the differences in thinking patterns, social communication, and behaviors associated with ASD may be why some folks mistakenly believe an autistic person lacks empathy.

Helping someone with ASD learn to recognize the emotional state of others through direct instruction is one way to enhance their ability to empathize with others effectively.

However, neurotypical people can also be a part of this solution by learning how autistic individuals think, feel, and communicate.

Approaching empathy in this way could perhaps bridge the communication gap and foster the acceptance and understanding autistic people deserve.

For more information, the following organizations offer resources and support for the autism community:

Autism Society of America
Autism Self Advocacy Network
Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network
Autism Research Institute

Last medically reviewed on June 29, 2021

9 sourcescollapsed

Autism spectrum disorder. (2020).
cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/features/new-asd-prevalence-numbers-show-gaps-are-closing.html
Brewer R, et al. (2016). Can neurotypical individuals read autistic facial expressions? Atypical production of emotional facial expressions in autism spectrum disorders.
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4975602/
Cook R, et al. (2013). Alexithymia, not autism, predicts poor recognition of emotional facial expressions.
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0956797612463582
DeThorne LS. (2020). Revealing the double empathy problem.
leader.pubs.asha.org/doi/10.1044/leader.FTR2.25042020.58
Fletcher-Watson S, et al. (2019). Autism and empathy: What are the real links?
journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1362361319883506
Giannotti M, et al. (2020). Alexithymia, not autism spectrum disorder, predicts perceived attachment to parents in school-age children.
frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00332/full
Kinnaird E, et al. (2018). Investigating alexithymia in autism: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6331035/
Mikoleit E. (2021). Personal Interview.
Warrier V, et al. (2018). Genome-wide analyses of self-reported empathy: correlations with autism, schizophrenia, and anorexia nervosa.
nature.com/articles/s41398-017-0082-6

FEEDBACK:

Medically reviewed by Alex Klein, PsyD — By Kimberly Drake — Updated on June 29, 2021

All About Autism
What Are the Symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorder?
Asperger’s vs. Autism: What Exactly Is the Difference?
How Is Autism Diagnosed?
Autism Fact Sheet: What Should I Know About Autism Spectrum Disorder?

Autism, empathy, violence - find the odd one

12/18/12

Despite social difficulties, autistics have the same capacity for empathy as other people

Author: Emily Willingham Elizaveta Morozova
Source: www.emilywillinghamphd.com

Some of the news in the last 24 hours has mentioned autism in the context of the tragedy in Connecticut, specifically Asperger's syndrome or "high functioning" autism. Talking heads on TV have mentioned "empathy," or the ability to empathize, more than once when discussing autism, so I want to clear something up. nine0003

Emily Willingham is a mother of a child with autism, PhD, writer, biology researcher and biology teacher, pediatrician, autism research promoter, and activist in the autism rights movement.

There are two kinds of empathy. The first is cognitive empathy—the ability to recognize from social cues, slight changes in tone of voice, and other types of non-verbal communication what emotion another person is experiencing. Psychopaths, for example, can have very developed cognitive empathy - they can have a very good ability to understand people, and psychopaths skillfully use this kind of empathy in practice, including to use others. Autistic people, on the other hand, can be very bad at recognizing the emotions of non-autistic people. After all, one of the main hallmarks of autism is difficulty understanding and using non-verbal language, which may be completely foreign to them. To be fair, non-autistic people seem to have just as little understanding of autistic non-verbal communication. nine0003

In addition, it can be difficult for autistic people to automatically put themselves in the place of another person in a given situation and intuitively understand how the other person is feeling right now. Again, it can be just as difficult for non-autistic people to put themselves in the shoes of an autistic person. However, if the emotion is expressed explicitly and directly, then nothing prevents the autistic person from understanding how the other person feels.

The second kind of empathy appears after the recognition of the emotion, regardless of whether it is expressed verbally or non-verbally, whether it is perceived intuitively or not. This kind of empathy means that you do not just understand what the other person is feeling on an intellectual level, but you yourself feel the emotions of another person, empathize. This is called emotional empathy. This is the kind of empathy psychopaths lack. But autistic people more than compensate for what they lack in recognition with the help of empathy. My experience is that once an autistic person understands the emotions of another person, he experiences those same emotions without any social constructs - naked, all-encompassing, unrestricted empathy. Of course, this leads to their emotions being very intense. nine0003

Studies have shown that people with Asperger's Syndrome have poor cognitive empathy, but their emotional empathy is at the same level as people without Asperger's syndrome. At the same time, for children with antisocial disorder, the picture is exactly the opposite.

Empathy - empathy with the emotions of another person. In essence, empathy is a construct that includes cognitive (understanding other people's mental states) and emotional (concern about other people's mental states) components. The prevailing view is that people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have a reduced capacity for empathy in general. However, this is not supported by research. For example, one study conducted among people with Asperger's syndrome (a form of autism) showed that although they had impairments in cognitive empathy (the ability to identify other people's emotions), they did not differ from other people in emotional empathy - experiencing other people's emotional states and the ability to care about the well-being of others. (Dziobek, I., K. Rogers, Fleck, S., M. Bahnemann, H. R. Heekeren, O. T. Wolf, and A. Convit. 2008. “Dissociation of cognitive and emotional empathy in adults with Asperger Syndrome using the Multifaceted Empathy Test ( MET). ” Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders 38: 464-473). nine0003

My eleven year old son has been diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, which will soon become simply "autism", thanks to impending changes in diagnostic and statistical manuals. This is a broad-shouldered giant of eleven years old, who loves to effortlessly fight with his brothers, but there is no person in the world more tender than him. If he finds a spider in the house, then he very carefully puts it on a napkin, takes it out into the street and lets it go. He cannot see how people crack nuts from a tree, because he himself is somewhat reminiscent of a nut, and he sympathizes even with nuts. He knows my non-verbal communication so well that he understands the slightest fluctuations in my mood better than anyone else in our family, including my husband. nine0003

He knows about the December 14 shooting in Connecticut. When he first heard about it, his first reaction was to turn around to the back of the chair he was sitting on and bury himself in it. He hushed and froze, remaining in that position for a very long time. When he did turn around, there were tears in the eyes of my child, who very rarely cries. And the first thing he thought of was that we should interrupt our homeschooling and take his brother, our youngest son in first grade, out of school...immediately.

When we were driving to school to pick up his brother, whom I so wanted to hug and hear as soon as possible, my eldest autistic son voiced what I had already decided: “Let's not tell him anything. He doesn't need to know. He's too excited and scared." Such is empathy.

Planned, social violence is not characteristic of autism. Moreover, autistic people are much more likely to be victims of violence than they are to abuse other people. I am writing this at a time when no one yet knows what exactly prompted the Connecticut shooter to kill 20 children and 7 adults in cold blood, although one can suspect that it was rage, hatred, the desire to take revenge on all of humanity, some event that pushed him. nine0003

But even if it turns out that he really was on the autism spectrum, I want to remind you that autism is a factor that does not explain his actions in any way. And that autistic people like my son are capable of empathy, and now they empathize with the victims.

Research, Asperger's Syndrome

Empathy can be too much in autism

New research suggests that, contrary to popular belief, people with autism spectrum disorders such as Asperger's do not have empathy problems. Rather, their problem is that they experience other people's emotions too much and cannot cope with it. nine0003

People with Asperger's Syndrome, a form of autism, are often portrayed as uncaring loners or robocalls. But what if what the rest of the world perceives as coldness is a defensive reaction to emotions - to an excess of empathy, and not a lack of it?

This idea appeals to many people with autism spectrum disorders and their families. It also fits with a new understanding of the nature of autism called the "intense world" theory. According to Henry and Camila Markram of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, the fundamental problem in autism spectrum disorders is not social deficit, but rather hypersensitivity, which includes an all-encompassing fear response. nine0003

"Some say that autistic people don't feel enough," says Kamila Markram. "We're saying just the opposite: they feel too much." Almost all people with autism spectrum disorder report some form of hypersensitivity and intense fear. The Markrams believe that the social problems of people with these disorders are due to the fact that they cannot cope with a world where someone has turned the volume control for all sensations and feelings to maximum power. If the voices of your parents sitting next to your crib sound like a heavy metal concert, then you might also prefer to hide in the farthest corner and sway from side to side. nine0003

Of course, such avoidance and self-soothing behavior - repetitive movements, mindless repetition of another's words or actions, inability to maintain eye contact - interfere with normal social development. Without the experience that other children gain during normal social interaction, autistic children never learn to perceive subtle social cues.

Phil Schwartz, a Massachusetts computer programmer and vice president of the New England Aspergers Association, has a child with this disorder. "I think it's a stereotype or misconception that kids on the autism spectrum lack empathy," he says. Schwartz notes that autism is not a one-size-fits-all condition, "if you know one Aspie, you only know one Aspie." However, he adds: "I think that most people with autism spectrum disorders feel emotional empathy and care very much about the well-being of others." nine0003

So why do so many people see a lack of empathy as a defining characteristic of autism? The problem begins with the fact that empathy itself is a complex phenomenon that consists of two main parts, the first of which is the simple ability to look at the world from the perspective of another person. The second is more emotional—the ability to imagine how the other person is feeling and, as a result, worry about whether they are suffering.

The fact that autistic children usually develop later on the first component of empathy, "theory of mind", has been proven in a classic experiment. The children were asked to watch two dolls, Sally and Ann. Sally takes the glass ball and puts it in the basket, then leaves the stage. When she is gone, Ann takes the balloon and puts it in the box. After that, the children are asked: "When Sally returns, where will she look for the marble first?" nine0003

Normally, at four years old, children know that Sally didn't see Ann move the marble, so they give the correct answer. Children with mental retardation, whose verbal IQ corresponds to three years, at the age of 10-11 years also give the correct answer. However, 80% of autistic children aged 10-11 believe that Sally will look in the box because they know that the ball is there and do not understand that other people do not have similar knowledge.

Autistic children realize much later that other people's experience and perspective may be different from their own - and the moment of such realization can be very different. Of course, if you don't understand what other people see or feel differently, then it may seem like you don't care about those around you. nine0003

However, this does not mean that when people with autism are aware of other people's experiences, they do not care or empathize with them. Schwartz says that every autistic adult over 18 that he knows understands the feelings of others much better than the Sally/Anne test would suggest.

Schwartz notes that non-autistic people, too, "understand the minds of those who are different from them quite poorly - but the non-autistic majority get away with this because it is assumed that all people's minds work in the same way as their own, and therefore they are most likely right." For example, when a child with Asperger's Syndrome endlessly talks about his special interests, he does not deliberately try to dominate the conversation, but simply does not understand that other people do not share his interests. nine0003

As for the caring aspect of empathy, this is illustrated by a lively discussion supporting Markram's theory that appeared on the website for people with autism, WrongPlanet. net. The mother wrote if her daughter could have Asperger's if she is very empathic but socially immature.

"If I have a problem with this, it's because I have too much empathy," wrote one responder.

"If someone gets upset, then I get upset. At school, it happened that someone behaved badly, and if the teacher scolded him, then I felt as if they were scolding me," said another. – I don’t understand anything when it comes to hidden hints, but I am “very” empathic. Sometimes I walk into a room and feel what every person in it feels, and I feel like this is a common thing with Asperger's/Autism. The problem is that everything is happening faster than I can comprehend."

Research shows that when people experience excessive empathy, they tend to withdraw. When someone else's pain hits you too hard, it can be hard not to recoil. For people on the autism spectrum, such empathic feelings can be too intense, and as a result, they are so distant that they appear cold and indifferent.

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Do aspergers have empathy

Autism, Asperger's, and Empathy: Know the Facts

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Autism, empathy, violence - find the odd one

Empathy can be too much in autism