I Have Asperger's Syndrome Forum & Chat Board | Outside looking in.

I've done a lot of research into asperger's.  Since it's a relatively new syndrome in the U.S., there hasn't been a lot of research into it.  Mainly just correlations beetween different aspies.  It seems to me that the scientists don't see the big picture and lack empathy for the omnipotency of the syndrome.  I was just thinking that maybe if there are any of you who love to write, then you could write about your experience with asperger's.  It could cause a growth of understanding to people of our unique condition.

 

Hi there

I think that sharing information is great. There is so much to learn about AS. I do not have AS but I have a sister that I am very close to that does. I am also a Nurse and have a masters degree, and undergrad in philosophy and psychology as well as nursing and I am currently working on my PhD. I have spent a lot of time trying to know my sister better. Before thinking about her with AS she really just presented as a difficult and often moody person. The framework of AS allows for a different view of her. There are things that are so clear to me about how she is in the world. She struggles with emotions and while she feels them she does not know what to do with them in many cases. She has a hard time with abstract ideas or holding 2 or 3 conflicting ideas in your mind at the same time. She can only “be with” one idea at a time and does not move freely between the options. This is a problem because that sort of thinking, ie moving from one idea to another, is essential for good decision making. She has learned how to be with others, NT. She has a personality and a way of being that is reserved for those in public and she can present as happy, smiling and social. It is always very superficial. Her true self does not like to be with other and at home with family we see a very different, often negative person. She has a tendency towards being negative and sees this in herself. The glass will always be ½ empty in her eyes.

The idea of lacking empathy is an interesting discussion and one that is difficult for many to understand. My sister is very caring, she is compassionate. She will stay up all night feeding a little orphaned animal and cry for days if it dies. She could never hurt anything. She does lack the ability to imagine what another person would think or how they might view a situation. I do think that people think that Empathy is the same as Compassion and they are totally different ideas. The “imagine life in their shoes” idea is something she really struggles with, this is Empathy. This ability is behind how most people interact with others. It stops us from responding in certain ways to others who might bother us for example. We might be bothered by the other persons actions, but we can also for a moment understand that the other person is for example stressed because they are fighting with their spouse, stressed because their teenager has been acting out and we will not respond is as negative a manner because of this knowledge we have. People with AS are likely to react based only on the other person’s actions and not have the benefit of being able to empathize. This does not mean the person with AS is uncaring or lacks compassion.  

 

This is just a few points I wanted to touch on. I think there are many other topics to discuss, but then the post would be way too long.

J