This is something we are not supposed to have. The irony is that a lot of people on the autism spectrum suffer from being bullied, misunderstood, seen only as a label, seen as a label that happens to be WRONG, etc.
Who really lacks empathy?
To be serious about the situation, I think we can have real empathy for people who have similar ways of thinking. So, I know what it feels like to be weird and uncoordinated, to have an odd pattern of learning--some things I learn far more quickly than NT's and some things I learn far more slowly. There seems to be very little that is normal about my learning pattern. I know what it feels like to be lonely in a crowd of people, to be overstimulated and to desperately need peace and quiet.
But it's harder for me to have empathy for someone who didn't make it during sorority rush. Sorry.
But since it's the NT's who make up the definition of what is normal and what ain't, we're stuck with the "people on the spectrum have no empathy" rap.
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
My life with Asperger Syndrome, part of the autism spectrum.
2 comments:
Don't you think people can only have 'true empathy' when they have experienced similar things. As you know, I'm a working mother of five. Now, just because someone can't 'empathize' with my insanity doesn't mean there is something wrong with them....they just haven't been here. I think the same thing can be true for what you wrote. Sounds pretty 'normal' to me :-)
Now that you mention it, we have to really think through what empathy is. In general it is the ability to understand someone else's situation, but I think I would have to add, it's the ability to at least TRY and understand someone else's situation. I don't have kids, so I don't know all the ins and outs of the challenges of parents; however, I can IMAGINE some things about it and then I can listen to what a parent has to say and add that information to what I imagine to be the case. To me, empathy is the opposite of self-centeredness and people of all imaginable sorts range from extreme self-centeredness to a willingness and desire to comprehend other people's lives.
Post a Comment