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Creative or Low EQ & Logical?

Seanado

I have noticed that some of my fellow autistics describe themselves in terms of 'creative' or 'empathetic'.

I do not share the creative trait, at least not in visual terms.

I am highly logical and I score very low on the empathy scale (low EQ, which is considered a typical indicator for those on the autism spectrum).

Are you in the 'creative' camp or the 'low EQ' camp?

Are there two kinds of autistic? If not, then how do we reconcile the difference between the creatives and the low EQs?

Parents Reply
  • in reply to JuniperFromGallifrey

    I'm really quite interested in this one as I deal with empathy and the problems it causes, in my work. It's seen as an advantage to be able to 'shed the yolk' of empathy, and I assumed all ASDs would be the same as me (as a low EQ score is an indicator for ASD), but anecdotally I am seeing quite a few who have very high empathy. I will also do some more research on this.

Children
  • in reply to JuniperFromGallifrey

    "To Feel what the Other is Feeling implies you are Thinking what they are Thinking."

    This is an interesting line, and I feel like adding something in case it helps or provides another interesting angle.


    When I feel empathy, I can 'basically feel' an emotion in me without knowing what the person is thinking.

    So, if someone is stressed (or another emotion), I will feel a similar kind of emotion well up. I will feel, in myself, that something may need to be resolved for them (and indeed I) to be able to feel calm again.

    I won't know why they are stressed though. All I know, is that a fairly strong emotion is washing through me and I've learned to reasonably ok pinpoint roughly what the emotion is.

    I know I was able to empathise with TV characters as a child. I get the impression that the feedback of life has taught to more easily feel/be attuned to different emotions.

    How accurately, or inaccurately, I guess what is being thought seems to be important. I'll lay out an example of this:
    If someone is stressed and I correctly guess that the stress is about their work, I'm likely to be a useful empath to them.
    If, however, I incorrectly guess that their stress is something to do with an earlier action of mine, emotions like guilt and fear may well take over within me and render my empathy skills much less useful to the stressed person, sadly.


    In terms of a positive kind of emotion, I can get a real lift if I walk into a happy environment. I may have no clue why people are happy, and yet I feel a welling-up of positive, good emotion in me.


    I'm wondering, does this personal explanation help? Is this quite interesting for some/any of you to read?

  • in reply to Seanado

    The way the term "Empathy" is used in psychology is quite different to how it is used by the public. I've started a post on it. 

    Empathy SHOULD be called Mind-Reading, or the ability to receive and process communication through tone, gestures, allegory, the Herd mentality collected awareness, use of linguistics and other communication means including facial expressions. It also implies the ability to 1. Receive and appropriately Process this AND also provide the Desired Response. 

    To Feel what the Other is Feeling implies you are Thinking what they are Thinking. There is a technicality here in that it has been translated to mean someone with emotions and thus subjecting humans who appear 'emotion-less' or apathetic to a state of Not having Empathy. This is contorted and warped. 

    When in a relationship, after years of getting to know someone, almost all humans except psychologically termed psychopaths care for and feel affection toward one another, NTs and NDs alike.

    Francesca uses the term Mind Blindness for Autistis as way of separating this misunderstood technical term from it's multiple and misguided meanings. I prefer to use Presumption as I feel presumption is entirely Un-Ethical and as a way of levelling the playing field about me when dealing with someone who is angry I cannot read their mind. Why should I have to assume the best in another while they assume the worst in me? No. We should all put forward a desire to Be Understanding of each other :) x