Empathy In People With Asperger’s Syndrome

The prejudice about the lack of empathy in people with Asperger’s syndrome continues to be present in our society. Yet, neuroscience warns us: children, adolescents and adults with this disorder feel the pain of others, recognize it and feel involved. Rather, they do not know how to react, what responses or behaviors to implement in these situations.

It is quite possible that films and TV series have contributed to creating a certain image on autism spectrum disorders, often far from reality. To begin with, the most important fact that we must take into account is that we are faced, as the word indicates, with a condition that falls within a spectrum.

This means that there will be people with very strict conduct or severe difficulties, even in the use of speech and communication. Others, on the other hand, will show better performance, good memory and great potential in some fields of knowledge, such as science and mathematics.

Not all children with ASD (autism spectrum disorder), therefore, are the same and although Asperger’s syndrome is the most common disorder on this spectrum, generalizing is always wrong.

This developmental disorder requires first of all understanding and closeness; to do this, it is necessary to know better that inner universe called empathy.

Empathy in people with Asperger’s syndrome: principles and characteristics

What about empathy in people with Asperger’s syndrome? Is it completely missing or is it present just like in neurotypical subjects (all those who are not on the autism spectrum)?

The answer cannot be resolved with a yes or a no. The question is not at all simple because empathy itself is not a simple dimension to define.

Two types of empathy

Christopher Gillberg, a lecturer at the University of Gothenburg (Sweden), is known for developing the most common criteria for diagnosing Asperger’s syndrome. Well, he himself defines Asperger’s “disease of empathy”.

Emphasizing this idea, however, is to feed the collective stigma. It should be made clear that people with Asperger’s have empathy, but the latter appears different than other people. Empathy manifests itself on two levels:

• Cognitive. We can see reality from the point of view of others. We understand what another person feels because we can put ourselves in their shoes.

• Emotional. In this case we just try what the other is feeling. We suffer an emotional contagion, we see, we hear, we connect, but we don’t understand. If we do, it is because emotional empathy works in tandem with cognitive empathy.

This is the experience of a person with Asperger’s: he is able to recognize the sadness or joy of others, but we don’t know how to react or how to behave. Cognitive empathy isn’t always close at hand.

Neuroscience and Asperger’s Syndrome

In Taiwan, Yang-Ming National University Brain Research Center conducted an interesting study in 2014. The team tried to analyze brain activity in people with Asperger’s using magnetic resonance imaging.

The first finding is that empathy in people with Asperger’s syndrome and the underlying mechanisms are visible. The processes connected to the identification of the suffering of others take place, they are real; but not in the same way they manifest in neurotypical people.

These differences can also be explained thanks to a work published in the journal Molecular Autism. Baron-Cohen, a lecturer at Cambridge University’s Autism Research Center, researched a special gene. This is the GABRB3 gene, which could be at the origin of these alterations in empathy.

This gene also regulates the functioning of a neurotransmitter called gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). An alteration in its functionality can therefore induce more rigid behaviors, hypersensitivity to stimuli, difficulty in understanding or putting oneself in the shoes of others.

However, there is a fact, if possible, even more interesting. The alteration of this gene is not unique to the ASD population. We could all present a variation in GABRB3, therefore show some limitations in terms of empathy.

Hypersensitivity in autism or over-empathy

Researchers Henry and Kamila Markram, Israeli neuroscientists, recall that one of the problems with autism is so-called experiential hypersensitivity. Everything is very intense, overwhelming. The world contains too many stimuli, too many sounds, lights, smells, sensations.

Strange as it may seem, then, the world of emotions is too chaotic for them too. Everything is experienced in an exaggerated and painful way, with an excess of anxiety.

According to the pair of researchers, it is not true that people with Asperger’s syndrome remain cold in the face of the emotions of others. Sometimes, indeed, they feel too much and get stuck because they don’t know how to react.

It is an unpleasant sensation. They feel overwhelmed, avoid eye contact, drift away, and tend to avoid social situations that are too invasive for their senses.

In conclusion, empathy in people with Asperger’s is real, tangible, in short, it exists. It just works differently, and it’s good to keep that in mind. The inner world of this group of people is not simple.

This is why they need sensitivity, respect and support from us to integrate into society, at their own pace, in their own way and with their own personal light.