Mental Health Please describe how autism affects you personally - autistic people only, not family

[n3ophy7e]

I'm over 80 so some of the terms I use are probably now no longer in fashion or use in clinical psychology . I thought the idea was to express how those who were diagnosed were effected, not argue about whether their experiences were valid in Eligiu's opinion.

I'm not at all surprised that you criticized me rather than empathize with me because you that's the way you treat others consistently on this site. I don't wish to have an argument with you so I'll just say thank you and leave" your" thread. You seem very intent on having everyone agree with your point of view and I simply don't have time too argue with people like you.

Peace !

It is natural for threads like this to be elicit some sensitive reactions and responses, as the posters in them (i.e. people with autism) may have varying degrees of difficulty with communication and processing information and emotions. That is absolutely no criticism of anyone in this thread, it's just a natural observation. Please don't feel that you were targeted or criticised, as an objective outsider, I read all the comments and I saw nothing personally negative said towards you. You are still very much welcomed and valued in this thread, especially given your age and experience.

 

[mtu mwendawazimu]

@Cheshire_Kat

I never fully knew you were autistic. I vaguely remember something along those lines, or maybe you told me yourself, I honestly forget, but glad you posted.

I am still wondering, do those with autism get stronger emotions elicited when watching things such as movies or music which tend to be more obvious in their feeling compared to say an individual?

 

[Snafu in the Void]

do those with autism get stronger emotions elicited when watching things such as movies or music which tend to be more obvious in their feeling compared to say an individual?

autism is a spectrum

it's not so easily summed up like that

Most are highly emotionally intelligent, but have difficultly expressing that to other people

Understanding the nuances of certain cinema may be a symptom, or not. Hard to say.

 

[Eligiu]

autism is a spectrum

it's not so easily summed up like that

Most are highly emotionally intelligent, but have difficultly expressing that to other people

Understanding the nuances of certain cinema may be a symptom, or not. Hard to say.

I find the myth that autistic people lack empathy and EQ frustrating. We just display it very differently.

An autistic person might be listening to a freak tell them something bad that happened to them recently, and break in to explain that they also had a similar or identical experience. The reason they do this is not because they're trying to change the focus of the conversation to themselves, but because autistic people often display empathy through showing they specifically understand what the other person is going through, and what better way to do that than by telling them you've been through it yourself?

I don't like when people say 'im sorry' to me when I tell them something bad that happened. And I never say it to others. I either tell them something similar that happened to me if I have anything or I say 'im sorry, I can only imagine how that feels but it's never happened to me so I can't possibly understand how you feel' and be truthful instead.

With emotions I know a lot of autistic people have issues identifying the names of certain emotions and labelling them. For me, everything definitely is in two big categories of 'good' or 'bad' and nuanced emotions can be something I completely miss. It's called emotion blindness or something. I do speech therapy to help with it by guessing the emotions on flashcards that are held in front of me. It's frustratingly difficult for some of them.

But like Snafu said, everyone is different.

 

[Bleaney]

@Cheshire_Kat

I never fully knew you were autistic. I vaguely remember something along those lines, or maybe you told me yourself, I honestly forget, but glad you posted.

I am still wondering, do those with autism get stronger emotions elicited when watching things such as movies or music which tend to be more obvious in their feeling compared to say an individual?

I hope @Cheshire_Kat comes back on this thread.

I have a bad habit of answering interesting posts aimed at someone else. I hope you don't mind.

I tend to be pretty much all or nothing in the way I consume movies and music etc. Either I'm completely involved emotionally and have very strong reactions or I'm not involved at all. It makes the things I do get into very rewarding, but it makes it harder to find things that I can get into. One of the advantages of being an Autistic loner is that I have plenty of opportunity to cast my net very wide looking for music, films, tv and audio books that I can get into and enjoy. Even if they are heartbreakingly sad.

I'm so thankful to have seen the rise of the internet in my 30s, where all the above are so much more easily and affordably / freely accessible than they were before.