TinDrum1d ago

what we thought we knew about autism and... whatnot

'For decades, researchers had been measuring the wrong thing. Conflating communication style differences with empathy deficits produced dramatically inflated effect sizes and an illusion of empathy impairment'

#autism #actuallyAutistic #science #psychology

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/positively-different/202601/what-the-world-got-wrong-about-autistic-people

What the World Got Wrong About Autistic People

For decades, autism research compared autistic people to animals, denied them moral sensitivity, and assumed autistic traits made them miserable. All wrong.

Psychology Today
Show threadDrew 🇵🇭 ♾️1d ago
@oscarjiminy I'm still unpacking all the nuances of my own autism & ADHD, but one thing's for sure:
I have so much empathy it's crippling, and I lock it down by compartmentalising in order to survive and keep my sanity.
The other points in the article ring true for me as well, so I'd say it's an article more people need to read - including the various therapists I've seen in my life.
Show threadNaga (he/him)22h ago
@drewtowler @oscarjiminy Once upon a time I had a therapist point out that I just might be over-extending empathy (I don't remember her exact phrase) when I was talking about being compassionate to people who were treating me badly and thinking in terms of how they got where they were, to the kind of person who would do that to another.
Show threadDrew 🇵🇭 ♾️22h ago

@naga @oscarjiminy I like "over-extending", it's nicely descriptive.

Empathy (especially difficulties regulating it) can also be related to trauma responses in CPTSD, which so many autistic people (including me) also have.

Show threadTinDrum

@drewtowler @naga this's often occurred to me too

i've not had a diagnosis and although i'm 100% certain i presented with autistic 'traits' as a child i'd always understood it as a trauma response.

thinking about it in the past few years though (and reading some of these responses) i am identifying strongly with some comments and am beginning to wonder

11:33pmWeb
Show threadDrew 🇵🇭 ♾️13h ago
@oscarjiminy @naga And it doesn't have to be one or the other. These things tend to conflate and merge.
I used to stay awake wondering whether some trait or other was due to my autism, my ADHD or my CPTSD. I lost a lot of sleep that way and I don't do it any more, because I don't think it matters.
I think the word "mishmash" is the most honest way to describe neurodivergence (with its attending CPTSD). I'm a mishmash and I'm OK (but not a lumberjack, that would not be OK).
Show threadTinDrum12h ago

@drewtowler @naga yeh i came to the same conclusion – it doesn't matter in any kind of substantive way but this goes to autism as a diagnosis proper imo

is it little more that a constellation of characteristics as distinct from some kind of ontological condition because if it is then that's just human diversity and we should perhaps just work to dilate that aperture and be more inclusive broadly imo

Show threadDrew 🇵🇭 ♾️10h ago
@oscarjiminy @naga Constellation of characteristics is a nice visual way to put it (way better than mishmash) but this constellation is brought about by a series of neurological differences, & that's the important thing for me. It's more than just human diversity.
I might, if pushed forcibly, even go so far as to say that I see neurodivergence as a mutation.
Usual disclaimers: I'm not a medical person or in any way qualified to judge any of this. I'm just an AuDHD bloke who makes web apps.
Show threadTinDrum8h ago

@drewtowler @naga i think mutations need to have genetic markers

neuro difference is bound up with psychological elements. there may be material aspects but if there are i'm pretty sure we don't know what they are

this goes to trauma manifesting in neurodivergent traits. outside of brain trauma/injury neurodivergence can be brought on by traumatic experience. that's not about spontaneous mutation in response to stimuli

Show threadDrew 🇵🇭 ♾️7h ago

@oscarjiminy @naga I'm officially out of my depth now... my understanding was that autism, at least, was an inherited genetic differemce and involved physical differences in the brain.

Having said that, my ADHD changed and intensitified after I had a traumatic brain injury some years ago. Which kind of blows my genetics-only argument out of the water.

Where that leaves us I don't know, but you're right that mutation probably isn't the right word.

Show threadNaga (he/him)12h ago
@drewtowler Ha! I'd have to say that last line probably qualifies you. in the mishmash. @oscarjiminy