“A groundbreaking study suggests people with autism-spectrum disorders such as Asperger’s do not lack empathy—rather they feel others’ emotions too intensely to cope.” Read the full article here.
The initial logic is straightforward- becoming socially isolated in response to experiencing overwhelming emotions seems reasonable. But at a closer read, this new theory doesn’t actually show a connection between Asperger’s and empathy, it just reiterates the hyper-sensitivity of autistic persons to otherwise “normal” stimulation. (An important aside, the article does not rule out the possibility of over-empathizing, but it is not shown here.) This theory does, however, bring other important perspectives to light, and I appreciate the effort to break some common surface-level judgments.
People with autism are very sensitive to anything they perceive, which has consistently been known to include all sorts of sensory stimuli (sound, touch, etc) and, as highlighted by this article, could include any form of emotional stimuli. This doesn’t mean the individual actually feels other people’s emotions, just that their own emotional experience is largely exaggerated and straining. Difficulty handling their own extreme emotions would lead to trouble relating to others, and could stunt their ability to read others’ emotional expressions correctly. In addition, when someone with Asperger’s did experience the emotions of another individual, their heightened sensitivity could make that intimacy quite painful, which would provide little motivation for continuing to empathize with others in the future.
I wonder if this could be expanded upon, to say that someone with Asperger’s is likely to experience another’s emotions when the feelings are fairly obvious and require very little interpretation, i.e. physical pain, or sadness to the point of tears. The article demonstrates the difficulty an autistic child has with understanding the boundaries of their own scope of knowledge and experience, and their inability to see that others’ experiences differ from their own, and possibly here’s where the capacity for empathy breaks down.
Emotional insight that requires subtle perceptions, acquired in normal children through early social interactions, aren’t necessarily noticed by an autistic person and could create an obstacle for empathy. Even if these subtle cues are later learned, if they’re viewed as some sort of analysis, and not intuitive, the feelings of others could be thought, and not necessarily felt, thereby accounting for the person with Asperger’s overall perceptiveness and intelligence, but their continued social isolation.
All that being said, each case is unique, and this new theory does not resonate with my little brother, who fits the more traditional interpretation of Asperger’s. As part of an email between us discussing the new theory, he wrote a very articulate analogy I would like to share now:
“I have always been best able to explain my condition using highly abstract analogies, and you probably understand these best, as well, so lets try here:
When a neurotypical person looks at someone else, the emotions (which I am seeing as brightly, variably colored gasses that swirl around) come into the room, and the person observes them and learns what they can about what the other person is feeling. They feel the emotions somewhat, depending on how strong they are. For you (if I understand you correctly), far too much of this gas comes into the room far too thickly for you to handle. You find it hard to see or breathe in the noxious orange and green, and this foreign gas simply won’t leave. Besides that, you feel very uncomfortable about the fact that this gas has displaced almost all of your own emotions (the gasses already in the room with you). For me, however, when the gas comes into the room, it comes in a sample retrieved by a worker or machine or something, and it comes in a glass tank. I look at it in the tank, I learn about it, I comprehend it, I observe the aerodynamic and to some extent the chemical properties of it, I make connections between it and other gasses that I’ve seen before (both from myself and others), and I analyze all of this newly gathered data extensively, but it does not invade my own emotions (the gasses already in the room with me) by leaving the tank. In the tank it is just as overly dense as it is for you when it fills up your whole room, but unlike you I never directly interact with it, and it stays contained, with no real prospect of directly affecting my own emotions. Maybe something I learn from my analysis will affect my emotions, or I will gain an emotion from the knowledge that the other person is feeling a specific emotion, but otherwise I essentially live in an airlock (also explaining why others find it hard to comprehend me so often).”
I found this to be a beautiful illustration of his perspective, and his ability to comprehend the emotions of others but remain isolated himself- understanding, but not empathetic. But his voice is just one among many varying examples
And with that, I leave you to ponder.
