People with Asperger’s Do NOT Lack Empathy

By on July 16th, 2012

About the Author: Ian Firestone is the father of a nine-year-old boy with Asperger’s Syndrome. This video first appeared on his You Tube channel is reproduced here by permission.

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3 Responses to “People with Asperger’s Do NOT Lack Empathy”

  1. Ettina says:
    July 16, 2012 at 12:55 pm

    I would like to point out that to make this website accessible to deaf people or those with auditory processing issues you should probably provide a transcript of the video if it’s not captioned.

    Also, he’s wrong when he says everyone feels empathy – psychopaths don’t. Some psychopaths rarely feel empathy, others never do.

  2. Ian Firestone says:
    July 16, 2012 at 1:37 pm

    Actually, I said everyone feels *apathy* from time to time. I’m well aware that some people are empathy deficient, as I used to live with someone with a sociopathic disorder.

    If you cannot hear the audio in the video, I explain that Aspies actually do care how they effect and appear to others, but in the moment they don’t intuit nonverbal cues or understand the points of view of others. I gave an example where my 7 year old Aspie son turned off a game I was playing because he wanted to change activities. I explained to him that he denied me a chance to make a high score. Once he realized it he was remorseful and apologetic. While his action seemed indifferent, his intentions weren’t malicious. Many Aspies (I do know many) struggle with this: intentions are empathetic, but the ability to apply them in real time is very low.

  3. Ettina says:
    July 18, 2012 at 5:25 pm

    OK, I misheard you then. I have CAPD, so it happens sometimes.