Was feeling a bit blue for a few minutes yesterday. Then Isaac came in the kitchen, turned me by the shoulders & hugged me warmly. I was so excited that I called my sister to tell her "Isaac just showed empathy"
Then Noah came to me and said "mom, don't kid yourself & get your hopes all up, he showed empathy, but it was rote learning just like handshaking & saying nice to meet you. He DID it cause he knows it's appropriate but he doesn't feel it and we've always known that he never will feel it"
Thanks for the reality check Noah. xxxooo.
(was a great hug though)
Hi Muriel, it was great to see you started a blog. I have been doing some reading about ASD (as always) & came across this quote just before I read your blog. Thought you might find it relevant. "Rogers et al. suggests that one must differentiate between cognitive empathy and affective empathy when regarding people with Asperger syndrome. They suggest that autistic individuals have less ability to ascertain others' feelings, but demonstrate equal empathy when they are aware of others' states of mind. Autistic and AS people actually have a greater response to stress that they witness others experiencing than neurotypical people do."
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