# Why is talking about autism America's new favorite pastime? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 24, 2010, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-talking-about-autism-americas-new-favorite-pastime/551335 "2010-08-24T21:09:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2010, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-talking-about-autism-americas-new-favorite-pastime/551335/41 "2010-08-26T14:51:21Z")
I can’t find the damned site now, but I read a fascinating page that scoured the statistics of autism diagnoses throughout the years. It showed that mental retardation diagnoses fell at the same rate autism diagnoses _rose_. It makes sense to me that children who were previously thought to be mentally retarded actually had autism of some sort. We now have more information, studies and knowledge, so diagnosis can be more accurate than it was. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2010, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-talking-about-autism-americas-new-favorite-pastime/551335/42 "2010-08-26T15:14:36Z")
Because OCD, ADHD, etc are _so_ 1990’s. People _need_ new scares because the old ones get kinda stale, you know? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2010, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-talking-about-autism-americas-new-favorite-pastime/551335/43 "2010-08-26T15:53:11Z")
**glowacks** –I taught at the undergraduate level for a couple of years. If an inability to draw parallels between situations and information is a sign of autism, then the vast majority of college students have it 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2010, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-talking-about-autism-americas-new-favorite-pastime/551335/44 "2010-08-26T15:54:13Z")
Here is an interesting article on autism in India: [http://www.autism-india.org/afa\_autisminindia.html](http://www.autism-india.org/afa_autisminindia.html) There are also some personal stories there. It’s a little harder to find stories or articles on autism in non-black and non-white families here in the States. But I rather agree with **GHO57** ; autism is a 1 in 110 chance. I work for a not for profit and the particular issue we address is a staggering _1 in 8_ chance, it seems a bit…less than useful that autism gets so much attention, dollars, and resources, when it is quite rare compared to, say our particular issue. ---
**Author:** ![Yaxche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8dc957/32.png) [@Yaxche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yaxche)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2010, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-talking-about-autism-americas-new-favorite-pastime/551335/45 "2010-08-26T16:28:46Z")
> [@FuzzyOgre](#): > > Autism is the new gay, dont you know? Vaccines make you gay? ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2010, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-talking-about-autism-americas-new-favorite-pastime/551335/46 "2010-08-26T16:52:14Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > Here is an interesting article on autism in India: > > [http://www.autism-india.org/afa\_autisminindia.html](http://www.autism-india.org/afa_autisminindia.html) > > There are also some personal stories there. > > It’s a little harder to find stories or articles on autism in non-black and non-white families here in the States. But I rather agree with **GHO57** ; autism is a 1 in 110 chance. I work for a not for profit and the particular issue we address is a staggering _1 in 8_ chance, it seems a bit…less than useful that autism gets so much attention, dollars, and resources, when it is quite rare compared to, say our particular issue. So you can say w/o thinking you’re advertising your company/organization/issue, I’ll be glad to ask: What issue? ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2010, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-talking-about-autism-americas-new-favorite-pastime/551335/47 "2010-08-27T04:11:16Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > According to this [site](http://www.fact-index.com/a/au/autism.html), autism is more prevalent in white males. The line containing this sentence is frequently repeated throughout the internet, verbatim. I assume the author means that it’s disproportionately represented in white males, even though that’s not what they actually say. > > But this [site](http://www.child-autism-parent-cafe.com/autism-prevalence-rate.html) seems more credible. It cites a CDC study that demonstrated no difference in incident rates between white and black people. > > This [site](http://sfbayview.com/2010/understanding-autism-african-american-children-with-autism-are-more-likely-to-be-misdiagnosed/) says that black autistic kids are more likely to be misdiagnosed and that when they do get diagnosed, it’s two years after white kids typically do. Which means they don’t get the early intervention they need. So that might explain why the focus on autism seems come to more from upper-middle-class and white people. These folks are more likely to get hooked into the intervention teams, drug regimes, elimination diet discussions, etc., in addition to having blogs and writing columns for magazines and newspapers. As well as being regular “voices” on NPR. But really, I don’t see that being any different from any other disease or condition. Yup. [Black children with autism](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2861330/?report=abstract) were “2.6 times less likely than white children to receive an autism diagnosis on their first specialty care visit.” [More here.](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2661453/) > [@](#): > > We have found that among children meeting the case definition of ASD, only 58% had documentation of an ASD classification in their health or education records. Unadjusted analysis found no statistically significant difference in this documentation by ethnicity. In adjusted analyses, however, children who were Black, Hispanic, or of other, non-White ethnicities were less likely than were White children to have documentation of an ASD in their records. For Black children, this disparity persisted regardless of their known IQ; for Hispanic and Asian children, the disparity was concentrated among those with intellectual disability. These findings are in line with previous research showing that Black children with ASD are diagnosed at older ages than are White children25 and that Hispanic children are less likely than are White children to be diagnosed with ASD at all.27 … > > … maternal education may be a proxy for greater knowledge of developmental milestones or greater ability to advocate with clinicians and educators for proper diagnosis. Mothers with more education also may be more aware of the extent to which an ASD diagnosis can result in additional services.40,41 > There are many conceptual lenses through which one might interpret our findings. The Institute of Medicine report Unequal Treatment suggests that racial differences in diagnostic patterns may be attributable to institutional factors such as access to health care, general prejudices held by the clinician, clinicians’ and families’ interpretation of symptoms, and clinicians’ application of rational (if erroneous) algorithms on the likelihood of a child having ASD.23 … > > … given a similar set of symptoms, practitioners may be more likely to diagnose autism in White children and intellectual disability in non-White children, given that research suggests lesser prevalence of intellectual disability in Whites.33 The analysis stratified by cognitive status offers some support for this hypothesis. The disparity in the presence of a documented ASD was most apparent among Hispanic and Asian children with IQs lower than 70. When clinicians observe intellectual impairment in these groups, they may be less likely to continue evaluation because their unspoken hypotheses are confirmed. … So, from that article we find that socially disadvantaged Black children with autism who have minimal intellectual impairment are less likely to be diagnosed because their mothers are less likely to have enough education to both recognize the nature of the disability and to advocate for their kids. (And yes if your child has a problem you want it labelled especially if you know that the label will help your child get services that will help him or her.) And Black children with autism who are more significantly cognitively impaired get left with the label of mental retardation alone. Pretty much how it was for everyone a decade or so ago. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2010, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-talking-about-autism-americas-new-favorite-pastime/551335/48 "2010-08-27T05:26:46Z")
Autism is just the latest thing. It was multiple personalities, then anorexia, then it was bullemia, then it was OCD, then it was dyslexia, then hyperactivitiy… Now I constantly hear people say “I’m OCD about it.” In my day they’d say “I’m anal about that.” Obviously these “I’m OCD about that” are not really OCD. It’s become a buzz word. It’s like Sheldon from “the Big Bang Theory.” People are always out trying to prove he has Asperger syndrome. Despite time and time again the writers say “Sheldon is a guy with a bunch of quirks.” As usual the truth is in the middle. Yes there are more people with autism than diagnosed, but there probably are more being diagnosed that aren’t. People are always trying to explain the “why” of their behaviours. Science is getting better and better at doing this. So now we don’t have to necessarily accept a behaviour. If there is a reason why, we can work on modifying it. A lot of folk see all this as just an excuse, but in the end it doesn’t matter. Excuse or real, you still have to function in the real world. Whether it’s autism, or obesity or whatever problem. It’s not like on TV where someone gives you a free pass because you have a condition. ---
**Author:** ![AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2010, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-talking-about-autism-americas-new-favorite-pastime/551335/49 "2010-08-27T07:57:25Z")
The old cut and paste isn’t working on my computer right now. Re: suburban special snowflakes… I do kinda think that might play a part in things…There are parents who misuse the IEP system so that their pwesious Smashlie can get front row seating or untimed tests. " Some parents might be " Oh wittle Smashlie can be a savant and have an edge to get into Ivy League Brand Name School. And it does seem like a lot of people are " Oh they have social issues… Must be Aspergers, when Asperger’s is a lot more complex. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2010, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-talking-about-autism-americas-new-favorite-pastime/551335/50 "2010-08-27T10:10:31Z")
> [@Rushgeekgirl](#): > > It’s been two and a half years I’ve been going through the DX process with my five year old. She didn’t talk at all and rarely made eye contact. You’d think right away “oh yeah that kid has autism!” but nope. > I don’t understand how it can be overdiagnosed as much as people think when it seems like it’s been forever and we still don’t have a solid diagnosis! I know part of the issue with my Bella is she’s extremely smart and an excellent mimic. She went from non-verbal to being just a few years behind at her last speech re-eval. > But you can see, just observing her for an hour, something is going on. She can’t handle change, loses control with loud unexpected noises, her language is just…wrong. I don’t know. Everything gets mixed up. So we go back and forth: sensory and language processing disorders–autism spectrum. > > And you know, disability for children doesn’t cover sensory and language processing disorders. So that’s been a bit frustrating because we do spend a lot on manipulatives and gas for four therapy trips a week. I don’t just mean toys. Special lights and brushes and weighted blankets and vests (we rarely use them now at home) and CDs for her modulated music therapy. Because she had poor motor skills early on, my SO built balance bars. We got a sensory swing. I have worked with her every day since I first noticed something was off in the way she processed information. I don’t want to think she has autism but she has something going on and at this point it seems to fit. > > I’m white. Definitely not rich! I never would have thought I’d be dealing with this. It frustrates me when autism is likened to “special snowflake syndrome”. I KNOW all children are different but you know when something is especially off, right? And both her therapists agree this is more than a case of sensory integration and language dysfunction, but her psychiatrist wanted to wait until she finished pre-k before a re-eval could be done so we’re still playing that waiting game I guess she’s just that borderline. > > It’s just not that easy to diagnose with high-functioning children. We’re not making things up and if decent doctors are doing the evaluations it shouldn’t happen just because mama read a magazine article. > > About ten years ago I was a TA in a class with autistic children, all so severe they were in a contained class. A few were shuttled off to PE or library with regular ed. kids but they were generally a distraction and they couldn’t care less about leaving their classes to go to a place where everyone is looking at them funny and none of the people/things they’re used to are there to keep them stable. There were black kids and white kids. I don’t remember what percent of what, but there were more black kids probably because it was an inner-city school. Maybe people who see it more in white kids are not realizing we’re still the majority out here. I don’t know, but what trips me out is the research showing it’s far more common in parents with a higher education. I wonder what that means. I empathise with that (see? I’m not autistic! :D) because it took my daughter 6 years to get a diagnosis. I still wasn’t sure it was the right diagnosis, but the more I learn, the more I think they were actually right. I am also white but not rich. And at any rate, she was ‘different’ enough that I referred her to child guidance when she was 3. It really wasn’t just being a little awkward. She’s 12 now and still can’t follow a pointing finger. She’s bright and happy though - seemingly unaffected by most of the shit that life throws at her, and doing very well at school. She still ‘differs’ in a lot of ways, but I prefer to think of most of them as a difference, not a disability (except the inability to find a bin!) There’s no way I would have wanted her diagnosed as autistic, because that’s something long-term, something that will always affect her. And the diagnosis affects her interactions with her peers, too; one of her friends found out that she was autistic and pestered her about it till their friendship ended. It affects her whole self-definition. Yes, she gets extra help at school and it’s helped her a hell of a lot, but if she weren’t autistic then there’s no way I’d send her down that path. > [@Markxxx](#): > > Autism is just the latest thing. It was multiple personalities, then anorexia, then it was bullemia, then it was OCD, then it was dyslexia, then hyperactivitiy… > > Now I constantly hear people say “I’m OCD about it.” In my day they’d say “I’m anal about that.” > > Obviously these “I’m OCD about that” are not really OCD. It’s become a buzz word. It’s like Sheldon from “the Big Bang Theory.” People are always out trying to prove he has Asperger syndrome. Despite time and time again the writers say “Sheldon is a guy with a bunch of quirks.” > > As usual the truth is in the middle. Yes there are more people with autism than diagnosed, but there probably are more being diagnosed that aren’t. > > People are always trying to explain the “why” of their behaviours. Science is getting better and better at doing this. So now we don’t have to necessarily accept a behaviour. If there is a reason why, we can work on modifying it. > > A lot of folk see all this as just an excuse, but in the end it doesn’t matter. Excuse or real, you still have to function in the real world. Whether it’s autism, or obesity or whatever problem. > > It’s not like on TV where someone gives you a free pass because you have a condition. I think that is quite possibly true. There’s more info, so it’s news, so there’s more stuff online and in the media. I’ll be happy when it’s passed. And I LOATHE, LOATHE, LOATHE, people who self-diagnose. You wouldn’t self-diagnose with diabetes, would you? I want my daughter to understand that being autistic doesn’t explain everything about her mind any more than being asthmatic explains everything about my body. But it’s hard to believe that when there are so many people taking on Asperger’s Syndrome as an identity. (Regarding the penultimate paragraph: some people with autism cannot function in the real world. But I assume you were talking more about HFA and Asperger’s). ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2010, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-talking-about-autism-americas-new-favorite-pastime/551335/51 "2010-08-27T13:25:28Z")
Wow Scifisam2009! It’s funny you mention the pointing thing because Bella has no clue when I point to things and I’ve never even thought it was related to autism although I don’t know why I never would have considered it. It makes sense! I swear I can point to the wall shelf and tell her to get an object she knows is on that shelf, but she will walk out of the room and go to wherever she thinks my finger must be pointing. It’s little things like that. And the spinning. When she was very young, around two, she self-stimmed by spinning and humming while watching her fingers but it’s been years since she did it. We noticed the other day she can spin and spin outside without getting even a little dizzy. I told her therapist and she said it was common with sensory issues, particularly autism. I’d never read that and wouldn’t have put them together necessarily. Those little things do add up though. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2010, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-talking-about-autism-americas-new-favorite-pastime/551335/52 "2010-08-27T14:25:23Z")
The pointing bit is part of what many consider one of the earliest deficits to show up in autism - problems with [“joint attention”](http://www.suite101.com/content/absence-of-joint-attention-in-early-diagnosis-of-autism-a246654) > [@](#): > > Lack of social attention is one of the hallmarks of autism. The term “joint attention” refers to a skill that allows communication with others through both gestures and eye contact. It’s a skill vital to social development in children. Through joint attention, a child expresses happiness while sharing an object of interest with another person. The average child delights in sharing these experiences. A child who lacks the skill of joint attention is at high risk for autism. > > Joint attention has the following characteristics: > > It is a spontaneous behavior. > It requires child to follow the pointing gesture. > It requires child to make eye contact with parent or caregiver. Sensory differences are very common and early in autism as well. Some things that they just are completely insensitive to, or enjoy big doses of, and some that they may be hypersensitive to. Common patterns include being easily bothered by noises, light touch like tags, and a variety of smells (although they also can be \*more \* calmed by smells like lavender than many other kids), and enjoying spinning, floating in the water, and deep touch. I tend to think of it as being that they have drives that are not able to be met in many social interactions because they can’t get the timing down right to achieve that from an early age (which distorts subsequent development) so they are a bit raw edged and hypersensitive to things that get direct paths into the drives, and soothed by those things that can fill it up more gently. In any case, back to the op … I think part of the issue is each of our need to label what we see, perhaps tied to our unavoidable and unstated belief that naming things gives us power over it. And the less control we actually have over things, the more we desire to create for ourselves at least some illusion of having some power and control. Autism (and the behaviors that get put under that word’s broad spectrum umbrella) is like that - it scares us as parents because we can’t really control it - so we are attracted to anything that helps us feel as if we have some. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2010, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-talking-about-autism-americas-new-favorite-pastime/551335/53 "2010-08-27T15:01:13Z")
> [@Yaxche](#): > > Vaccines make you gay? They can. It depends on the site of injection and the gauge of the… needle. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2010, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-talking-about-autism-americas-new-favorite-pastime/551335/54 "2010-08-30T08:59:11Z")
The fact is that there are no unintelligent people anymore, there are no wicked people, no users, no arseholes, no lazy people, no greedy people. They all have diseases, which we are not sure what the causes of are: or even totally agree on the symptons. Or of course syndromes that we have never ever been aware of throughout human history. And the science is still lacking; indeed to some ill informed people it could all be viewed as purely anecdotal and a self serving interpretation of the facts, but we will crack the science in time though it may be a very long road(So could you all give us more resources to investigate it please). And don’t even for one moment think that we’ve already made up our minds about the situation and are desperately cherrypicking anything and everything that may justify our beliefs. And all of the above is scientific fact, honestly! So when a kid does poorly in school its not down to his parents. When a kid assaults a teacher he/she can’t help themselves so they shouldn’t be punished but rather pitied for their illness. Rather we should do something nice for them in view of their illness. People that we once regarded as “bad”, or lacking in someway are not responsible for their actions. But the rest of us who do not act in such a fashion ARE in some mystical way the reason they are the way that they are and as such should be ashamed of ourselves; and at the very least give contributions to help these victims and put up with their anti social behaviour. Because after all somehow its our fault. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2010, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-talking-about-autism-americas-new-favorite-pastime/551335/55 "2010-08-30T11:16:55Z")
> [@Lust4Life](#): > > The fact is that there are no unintelligent people anymore, there are no wicked people, no users, no arseholes, no lazy people, no greedy people. > > They all have diseases, which we are not sure what the causes of are: or even totally agree on the symptons. > > Or of course syndromes that we have never ever been aware of throughout human history. > > And the science is still lacking; indeed to some ill informed people it could all be viewed as purely anecdotal and a self serving interpretation of the facts, but we will crack the science in time though it may be a very long road(So could you all give us more resources to investigate it please). > > And don’t even for one moment think that we’ve already made up our minds about the situation and are desperately cherrypicking anything and everything that may justify our beliefs. > > And all of the above is scientific fact, honestly! > So when a kid does poorly in school its not down to his parents. > > When a kid assaults a teacher he/she can’t help themselves so they shouldn’t be punished but rather pitied for their illness. > > Rather we should do something nice for them in view of their illness. > > People that we once regarded as “bad”, or lacking in someway are not responsible for their actions. > > But the rest of us who do not act in such a fashion ARE in some mystical way the reason they are the way that they are and as such should be ashamed of ourselves; and at the very least give contributions to help these victims and put up with their anti social behaviour. > > Because after all somehow its our fault. Do you know any people who have been diagnosed with autism? Not people “self-diagnosed” when they were having a mid-life crisis, but someone is just indisputably different, from as early as toddlerhood? If you have, then how can you possibly say any of the above? One thing is clear: it’s not only autistic people who lack empathy. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2010, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-talking-about-autism-americas-new-favorite-pastime/551335/56 "2010-08-30T12:57:00Z")
Well its obviously not my fault if I lack empathy, I’ve obviously got some sort of syndrome and as such am not accountable for my actions. I don’t know how you can face yourself taking against me when I’m suffering. Shame on you. ---
**Author:** ![FuzzyOgre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@FuzzyOgre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FuzzyOgre)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2010, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-talking-about-autism-americas-new-favorite-pastime/551335/57 "2010-08-30T14:21:29Z")
> [@scifisam2009](#): > > She’s 12 now and still can’t follow a pointing finger. I’m going on 38. If someone points at something and says “Hand me that”, if it isnt the only thing in the table, I am unsure what they want. It has to be pretty clear cut before I get it. Yet there is nothing wrong with my intelligence. I just dont see the world from your eyes. I dont share that commonality of intent. While I have a cognitive understanding that you all log off your computer, pick your noses and then make supper, even though I also prepare meals, I dont imagine you doing it. My acquaintances in life might as well be shuffled off into closets when out of my sight. It is not instinctive for me to understand that they have good days and bad or even that anything of note happens to them outside my sphere of perception. Needless to say I am not saddened by their absence. So when I encounter them I just assume that they are neutral in mood. This is likely the source of a good deal of confusion, ill will and frustration on their parts, but I dont notice that. This is what autistic lack of empathy means. Its not the sort of ill will and sour grapes that Lust4Life is projecting. If you are pointing emotionally, I probably dont get it. Of course it goes without saying that I can also act like a jerk. But being deliberately callous isnt a defining trait of autism. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2010, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-talking-about-autism-americas-new-favorite-pastime/551335/58 "2010-08-30T14:23:09Z")
> [@Lust4Life](#): > > Well its obviously not my fault if I lack empathy, I’ve obviously got some sort of syndrome and as such am not accountable for my actions. > > I don’t know how you can face yourself taking against me when I’m suffering. > > Shame on you. Having a ‘syndrome’ doesn’t mean someone is not responsible for their actions. It does mean that you can interpret actions differently; for example, if someone’s autistic and fails to say hello to you when they enter a room, it doesn’t mean they’re ignoring you in an intentionally rude way, so there’s no need for you to feel offended. There are some autistic people who’d claim that their diagnosis means they can get away with anything, but that’s because being autistic doesn’t mean you can’t also be an arsehole. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-talking-about-autism-americas-new-favorite-pastime/551335.md?page=2)