Empathy/Lack Of in HFA/Aspergers - Help Me Understand Please

[BrokenMumTeenDD]

Currently going through the information on HFA/Aspergers in regards DD & things escalating & diagnosis now being more urgent (see other post)

She fits it to a tee & I realised that I probably do to BUT I keep hitting the Lack Empathy symptom & that definitely doesn't fit with either of us.

She's highly sensitive both physically and emotionally & can literally feel the strong emotions of others as her own & is affected by it. She, like me is more of the practical, straight talking friend when it comes to advice though, rather than sympathetic noises.

What exactly does this lack of empathy mean in HFA,am I taking it too literally

Thank you

used. For many this means super-intelligent, in a great job, no struggles with life but are horrible to everyone around them (just check out the threads in relationships about being "married to an Aspie").

Oh, yes I know. Do not get me started on those threads 😬

I agree with most of what you’re saying, in fact.

I really would like one word that means “HF-ASC” or “Aspergers” of “Autism w/o learning difficulties”, though. One short, snappy descriptor.

Agreed Arrietty and Fannia.

Asperger's was so helpful until the horrible connection was made. Not sure what a good alternative is though. That kind of creativity not my strongpoint.

Asperger's was so helpful until the horrible connection was made.

And what horrible connection would that be? You know he wasn't a member of the Nazi party right? Doing so would have been better for his career, yet he wasn't a member. Gee, I wonder why. Perhaps because he wasn't a Nazi?
He's being condemmed because he practiced medicine in Nazi occupied Austria, like any doctor there or in Germany had any choice about being involved (however indirectly) with the state sponsored euthanasia program.
It's absurdly naive to judge him based on that, or to think a doctor at that time could escape any involvement, regardless of their actual beliefs.
I'm happy to still use the term Aspergers, I don't consider it tainted.
Ironically Asperger was the first person to recognise the concept of autism as a spectrum and had a much better understanding of that fact than Kanner. The latter was involved with some pretty disgusting stuff too. And he didn't even have the excuse of living under a right wing dictatorship at the time either.

That's great JanMeyer - you have your views and I have mine.

But why the need to be so aggressive on your response? I do not think its "absurdly naive" at all to judge him on his collusion with the Nazis. There has been evidence presented about this and I personally think you're doing a big disservice to doctors of that era by saying they would all just have cooperated regardless. I also have strong personal reasons about the association.

Yes Hans Asperger did groundbreaking work on autism. And my official diagnosis is Asperger's and I was extremely relieved to get it (late diagnosis). But in my view, the name is tainted.

I also think the term has become tainted and distorted by (social) media misrepresentation, so perhaps a clean start is best all round?

There has been evidence presented about this and I personally think you're doing a big disservice to doctors of that era by saying they would all just have cooperated regardless.

A huge number of doctors were complicit, as were lawyers. That's why de-nazification after the war was so difficult, because if they struck off all the doctors/lawyers/civil servants who did collaborate there would have been hardly any left.
And even when doctors didn't directly collaborate, they did indirectly by benefiting from the fact Jewish doctors could no longer practice - aka more business for them.
People are willing to do or go along with pretty much anything if they benefit in some way.
It's just a fact - huge numbers of professionals went along with the whole thing or stayed silent about it, even if they disagreed. I mean if they hadn't, the holocaust wouldn't have killed so many people would it?
So it's not doing doctors a diservice, it's just reality.

Ah yes, evidence you mean that German guy who claims Asperger was a Nazi but refuses to publish the so called proof for the rest of us to see.
Again if he was such a big freaking nazi why was he not a party member when it would have been beneficial for his career?
Tell me, what would you have done in his shoes (or any other Austrian doctor of that time)?
Because people say they would do the right thing, they say they could never be a part of something like that. History tells us otherwise. And i think it's absurd when people make those statements and judge Asperger whilst having no idea what living under Nazi dictatorship was like.

JanMeyer

I’ve seen you post on autism related threads before. I’m in agreement with the vast majority of comments you’ve made. We need posters with actual understanding of autism on MN to combat the mild autism / all in the spectrum type ignorance that are spouted almost daily.

But I don’t understand why you feel you have the right to tell me that I’m being absurd for having issues with the Asperger and his work with the Nazis.

I don’t care if he was Some poor victim of circumstance ; there are millions more with whom I have greater sympathy. Had I had the misfortune of living in the wrong part of Europe at the time and with a visible disability, I could have met the same fate as millions.

You are being arrogant to tell me I’m being absurd. There is a connection with the Nazis, I don’t like it and therefore I don’t want what is an absolutely fundamental part of me being described by a term that I associate with abject evil.

I am autistic. And this thread is now making me extremely anxious so I’ll hide it.