Do Autistic People Lack Empathy?
When discussing autism, you may have come across the notion that autistic individuals lack empathy. At first glance, this claim can sound troubling, especially when we associate it with psychological disorders like sociopathy or narcissism. However, let's take a closer look at this mischaracterization of autistic people, why it's a topic of discussion, and why it's crucial to understand the complexity of empathy in autism.
Defining Empathy Empathy, as defined in the dictionary, is "the ability to understand and share the feelings of others." Essentially, it involves imagining or deeply comprehending what someone else is feeling or experiencing. It's a complex social behavior deeply rooted in understanding the emotions and experiences of others.
Understanding Autism One of the core features of autism is a deficit in social communication and interaction. Given this difficulty in navigating social scenarios, it's logical to assume that empathy, being a highly social behavior, might pose challenges for some individuals with autism.
Breaking Down Empathy As a behavior analyst, I often break down complex behaviors into their functional components. This approach helps create a hierarchy of prerequisite skills required for the complex behavior in question. In the case of empathy, we can only truly measure it by observing the behaviors associated with it. So, what behaviors do empathetic individuals exhibit?
1. Observation Empathy begins with observing another person's emotional response or the events they are experiencing. Autistic individuals may spend less time looking at people, which can affect their ability to observe someone else's emotions. It's not that they lack feeling or kindness; they may simply miss observing the events that trigger empathy.
2. Recognizing Facial Expressions Empathetic individuals can identify different facial expressions and the emotions they convey. However, recognizing these expressions can be challenging, especially when individuals don't spend much time looking at faces. Subtle changes in facial expressions may go unnoticed.
3. Making Inferences Empathy often requires inferring details about a situation. Autistic individuals might find this challenging due to their preference for literal thinking. They may struggle to fill in missing pieces of information or draw conclusions when details aren't explicitly presented.
4. Perspective Taking The ability to put oneself in another person's shoes and understand their feelings is a key component of empathy. For some autistic individuals, perspective taking can be difficult. They may struggle to understand experiences different from their own, especially in situations where nuance is involved.
A Closer Look Consider this scenario: a class of students is having lunch outdoors when a bee approaches Sara, a non-autistic girl. She reacts by waving her arms frantically, screaming, and running away, followed by tears. Matt, an autistic student who loves insects, continues eating and doesn't notice Sara's initial actions. When he does look up, he sees her running but doesn't identify her fearful expression. He is unaware of the bee's presence and the events that unfolded. When a teacher explains that Sara got stung by a bee, Matt struggles to grasp why she was so scared because he, of course, loves bees.
In this example, Matt's response doesn't mean he lacks empathy; he simply missed some of the essential cues needed for empathy. His observation skills, emotional recognition, inference-making, and perspective taking were challenged by the situation.
The Truth About Empathy and Autism Accusing autistic individuals of lacking empathy is an oversimplification. Empathy is a multifaceted skill that requires various underlying abilities, some of which may be naturally challenging for autistic individuals. Many autistic individuals are highly empathetic when they possess the necessary skills. Understanding these complexities is essential to appreciate the depth of empathy within the autistic community.
Empathy is not a binary trait; it exists on a spectrum. Rather than making blanket statements about empathy and autism, it's crucial to recognize the diverse range of empathetic abilities within the autistic population. By understanding and supporting the development of the component skills of empathy, we can better appreciate the empathy that autistic individuals can and do express.