jelibean
Veteran
Joined: 23 Mar 2008
Age: 66
Gender: Female
Posts: 548
Location: United Kingdom/www.jelibean.com
09 Apr 2008, 2:50 am
marshall wrote:
I think people often claim to feel empathetic when they are really It's definitely true that I feel a stronger urge to express sympathy when someone is going through something that I have experienced myself... but I still don't literally feel the emotion they are going through right at the time.
HEAR HEAR marshall. Couldn't have put it better myself! When Theory of Mind kicks in though YOU FEEL OTHERS EMOTIONS....................there is no mistaking it. Theory of Mind can be a bit of a Damascine moment, deffo cannot be missed in adult hood although is much more subtle in children. The time to catch these kids is between 10 and 15 when Neural pruning is being done.
The neural pruning in a child on the spectrum is not being achieved properly and the dendrites are growing like a bush instead of a solid trunked tree. We need help pruning as if it not done all hell breaks loose.
After the age of 15 it is much more difficult as pruning has been missed. My advice for what it is worth is intense intervention aka CBT from the earliest age possible. The faster we intervene the better the results.
09 Apr 2008, 2:53 am
jelibean
Veteran
Joined: 23 Mar 2008
Age: 66
Gender: Female
Posts: 548
Location: United Kingdom/www.jelibean.com
09 Apr 2008, 3:06 am
Hiya Danielsmyname!!
Oooh I so know what you mean. It sounds horrific to feel empathy and at times it is! But given the choice of having it or not...............................awful sometimes how painful empathy can be but heyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy it is a very useful tool to have in our toolboxes! Children NEED it to survive, we all do in some way or another!
I agree there are times I HATE THEORY OF MINE and prefer to be disconnected. However once T o M is installed there is no going back!
