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Discovery 3 - Empathy (and testing)

Lotus

Tyrell: Is this to be an empathy test? Capillary dilation of the so-called blush response? Fluctuation of the pupil? Involuntary dilation of the iris?
Deckard: We call it Voight-Kampff for short.


Empathy comes in 3 "flavours" . 

Cognitive empathy is the ability to know how other people feel and what they might be thinking. Also known as perspective taking, it is useful for motivating people or in negotiations. I never knew this was a type of empathy until recently. It requires good non verbal communication skills, which is why autistic people have difficulty with it (See my previous post "Discovery 2 - Let's talk about communication" for more  information)

Compassionate empathy is wanting to help other people, or animals, in pain and distress. People who have this trait but can keep an emotional distance to avoid being overcome by it make good nurses, paramedics etc. 

Emotional or affective empathy is when you feel another person's emotion. Autistic people can feel this very strongly, sometimes more than an NT person, so the assumption that we have no empathy is not true. This misunderstanding may be caused by our struggle to know how to respond to the distress of others, which could be interpreted as a lack of caring. However Autistic people may get overcome by their distressing emotions and may shut down emotionally in response to to becoming overloaded.

The Voight-Kampff test was in a movie, however  there are empathy tests, plus many others, to determine whether a person is Autistic. This can be useful, as it can lead to kind, empathic people helping those who want and need support to deal with  life. But testing and diagnosis should not be allowed to lead to doubts over competence or the feeling that one is doing something "wrong". NT people misread Autistic people too.  It's just difference.

Parents

  • This is an interesting thread and one which has helped me understand empathy from an AS point of view a bit more.

    I think in general, women like to offer emotional support in situations but as a woman myself i can struggle with this as i dont know how to respond. I try to offer more practical advice. So its hard if i cant identify with the situation or its not one ive been in. Ive found as people have offered me support at different stages of my life, now if others are in a similar situation i can understand what theyre going through and offer support. A bit like ive learned how to do it. 

    Its like a double-bind. On the one hand something can really affect me (eg on TV) on the other, sometimes i think maybe in a real life scenario "whats all the fuss about?". Sometimes something only dawns on me much later about the extent of a situation. Like its had time to sink in. Then i start going over how my reaction might not have been strong enough in relation to it. I work with lots of lovely women and i think im learning as i go how to respond to things. I think sometimes my voice might over compensate for my face in reaction to something.

Reply

  • This is an interesting thread and one which has helped me understand empathy from an AS point of view a bit more.

    I think in general, women like to offer emotional support in situations but as a woman myself i can struggle with this as i dont know how to respond. I try to offer more practical advice. So its hard if i cant identify with the situation or its not one ive been in. Ive found as people have offered me support at different stages of my life, now if others are in a similar situation i can understand what theyre going through and offer support. A bit like ive learned how to do it. 

    Its like a double-bind. On the one hand something can really affect me (eg on TV) on the other, sometimes i think maybe in a real life scenario "whats all the fuss about?". Sometimes something only dawns on me much later about the extent of a situation. Like its had time to sink in. Then i start going over how my reaction might not have been strong enough in relation to it. I work with lots of lovely women and i think im learning as i go how to respond to things. I think sometimes my voice might over compensate for my face in reaction to something.

Children
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