Autism and Empathy

Cambridge University's Professor Simon Baron-Cohen is the first cousin of Ali G. impersonator, Sacha Baron-Cohen. He is also the a world expert on Autism. He defines

..."empathy is without question an important ability. It allows us to tune into how someone else's feeling, or what they might be thinking. Empathy allows us to understand the intentions of others, predict their behavior, and experience an emotion triggered by their emotion. In short, empathy allows us to interact effectively in the social world. It is also the “glue” of the social world, drawing us to help others and stopping us from hurting others."

The word “empathy” was invented by Titchener in 1909 as a translation of the German word “Einfuhlung,” itself a term from aesthetics meaning “to project yourself into what you observe

Baron-Cohen and Wheelwright devised an empathy quotient for adults with Asperger Syndrome, a highly functional form of autism. This empathy quotient is not static. As parent and any human with a a creative streak , a high EQ develops further and further... Here is our son revealed empathy at his Bar Mitzvah:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=ULNw-XDLUGo

Comments

Silona said…
I have noticed (and this is pure observation) that autistic children have empathy through a microscope or binoculars.

Which means there is much they don't see but once focused they see it in too much painful detail and it can be overwhelming.

I see this is lesser degrees w asperger friends in the tech industry.
Silona, this is very good point

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