Ettina

This is what I hate about Simon Baron-Cohen. He uses the same word 'empathy' to describe two entirely different characteristics - the ability to understand what another person is likely to be thinking or feeling (which AS people have trouble with), and the ability to experience an emotional reaction more appropriate to the situation of the person you're observing than your own situation (which sociopaths have trouble with). If I don't realize your father has died, I'm not going to feel very sympathetic. But as soon as you tell me, I will feel sad for you and have the urge to comfort you (even if I don't know how). Sociopaths have a bit of trouble reading certain facial expressions (especially fear) but their primary deficit is the fact that they never feel emotions appropriate to the situation of the person they're observing - only their own situation. So if you tell a sociopath your father has died, they won't feel sad, because they haven't lost anyone.

Desperation. Many of these kids do have severe problems, such as aggression and self-injury. Many have been rejected from other services because they're too high-needs. (Ironic, how the people who most need help get turned away.) Sadly, torturing the child isn't going to solve those problems.

I thought the Harry Potter series was good, but not the best. However, the last book was really awful. I get the impression JK Rowling just got sick of the series and wanted it over.

I wish I could get DBT, I think it would help me, but I haven't ever been offered it. I have a dual diagnosis of autism and PTSD, and I also meet 4 criteria for borderline personality disorder (you need 5 for the diagnosis, but the four I have cause plenty of unhappiness). I've read studies suggesting people who meet 3 or 4 BPD criteria can benefit from DBT, just as those who actually have that diagnosis do, and from reading what DBT's about I think it would help. But I've never heard about it being used with AS. I suppose, given the emphasis on learning to regulate emotions, it could be helpful to a high functioning autistic person who has meltdowns.

Hi, guys, I'm doing a survey intended to be filled out by parents of autism spectrum kids - any functioning level, though it's more intended for HFA. (For those of you who are on the spectrum, don't fill this out about yourselves. Self-report and informant report involve different cognitive processes, and I'm specifically looking for informant report.) It's commonly said that autistic kids lack empathy. But there are different kinds of empathy - the ability to figure out how someone else is feeling, and the emotional reaction you have to your perception of the other person's emotions. Most studies into 'empathy' in autism have only examined ability to figure out how someone else is feeling, and not the emotional reactions the person has when they do figure it out. Of the studies that have examined this area of empathy, some have asked AS people to report on their own experiences, others have measured physiological reactions. No one has examined how parents perceive empathy in their autism spectrum kids. In addition, I'm also interested in studying the relationship between the two types of empathy and certain behavioral/personality traits in autistic kids, as well as whether additional diagnoses (such as ADHD or ODD) influence the child's empathy pattern. If you want to participate, click this link: http://fluidsurveys.com/surveys/ettina/empathy-types/