skibum wrote:
Joe90 wrote:
Then how come they say Aspies lack empathy if we don't understand how it feels for somebody who's in a situation we have never been in?
Because they sometimes judge and make these decisions by outward appearances. If they don't see you respond in the same way about something that they do, they think you don't feel it. They often don't understand that sometimes we feel things much more deeply than they do. And some Autists really do struggle with not having empathy but that is not true for all of us. I also think that a lot of times NT's will base their conclusions on what they know about famous case studies and a lot of the stereotypes come from them. They don't understand how huge the Spectrum is and that we are each unique individuals who have different levels of everything just like they do. And sometimes if you have trouble expressing something like empathy, even if you feel it, they assume you just don't have it. But many NT's are now becoming much more educated about the Spectrum especially with sites like WP so hopefully all that stereotypical thinking will change soon.
I think I understand now. Lacking empathy to a certain extent is normal in everybody, we can't all think of everyone else all the time. I think it just depends on the context, like most things do. I've been reading up on empathy and it seems I feel empathy an awful lot, but I can sometimes not feel empathy like when I'm in a bad mood or something, but even then I'm still aware that I'm lacking empathy,
Joe, I had actually misread your question when I answered but you are right. Sometimes we don't feel empathy and sometimes we do. I don't think it is always cut and dry for everyone. I don't always feel empathy but sometimes I feel it a lot especially if I love the person or if it is a really tragic thing that the person is going through. But sometimes I don't have empathy. So like you said, it can vary. And some people don't feel it at all and others feel it all the time. So it depends on the individual really.
