7 ms·

> I wonder if this is less common today though no, autism spectrum disorder (formerly called asperger's) is not less common today. and, btw, some hypothesize t

• wizzwizz4 5y ago
  > and, btw, some hypothesize the awkwardness comes not from a lack of empathy, but actually hyperempathy, I don't think it's either; I think it's a different empathy. For some, it might be a subset of “normal empathy”, and for others it might be a superset, but those are probably exceptions. From talking to people, it seems like strong empathy with the easy-to-imagine (e.g. familiar) experiences of others, but less empathy with unfamiliar experiences of others – sometimes to the point where it's hard to tell the emotional state of others, or even predict how they'd react to certain situations. I'm guessing this has something to do with the "harder to model other people as being different people" thing that some people have – see the “pencil in a Smarties tube” test.[0] [0]: https://www.toxicdrums.com/smarties-pencils-child.htm https://www.toxicdrums.com/smarties-pencils-child.htm