Do they ever stop to think about whether or not NTs empathize with people with aspergers? I think they might have some trouble there given their brains don't work they same...don't think it is a lack of empathy. I have empathy, sure I have trouble releating to people especially neurotypicals without mental health issues since I don't know what their experience is and cannot imagine how it would be to be like them. But I still have feelings about people, miss people, care about people though it can be hard to express all that in the way neurotypicals do.....doesn't mean its not there and I don't care.

And maybe instead of trying to train/teach us to at least act normal on the outside, perhaps they should put more effort into helping us function as well as we can as people with aspergers/autism with different strengths and weaknesses not people who need to be trained to be 'normal'.

Usually am aware of my feelings/thoughts unless I feel really numb, and am aware of other peoples though I may not be able to read that as well based on body language and such...Of course cannot say I understand everyone elses thoughts and feelings, but doubt everyone else understands mine.

Also seems like they made it a self fulfilling prophecy, since you have to express it properly for it to count as empathy actually never heard of that. And have also heard of many neurotypicals complaining because they might have been concerned about someone or trying to be empathetic but said the way wrong thing, or approached it wrong for that person so got a negative reaction...I thought having empathy and expressing it properly are two different things...though properly is subjective.

Also why should people with autism assume they are always wrong and family/doctors are always right and just go along with 'coaching' on how to seem more normal to people who cannot accept anything other than normal. How about families of autistic people and society at large accepts that we aren't neurotypical, aren't going to perfectly mimic neurotypicals and also are NOT obligated to.

And to the author of the Article NO NO NO I do not need coaching to be more 'neurotypical' and i do not need to accept I have 'zero degrees of empathy' as that is quite simply false and yeah facts hold a little more water in my book than some of the crap presented in the article. Do you bother actually listening to what people on the spectrum have to say about what goes on inside their head, or just keep making assumptions and backing it with pseudoscience. I doubt the person who wrote that is really going to be empathetic and come see how people who actually are on the spectrum feel about the article...but just in case.

Thought this was a support site, but I guess people with aspergers/auutism are supposed to be too stupid to catch the subtle...'people on the spectrum are inferior, with less brain capabilities and should be trained/coached to act more normal to stop annoying all the normal people' tone of the article.

Guess its just a support site for people off the spectrum with mental illness, and people who's lives are so horrible due to the existance of autistic people...