And it seems incredible that we can still find some professionals in our sector and literature who erroneously confirm or affirm that people with autism do not have feelings and even less the ability to love. It’s easy to see how clearly wrong there is on this subject, you just have to give any of these kids a chance and they’ll show you. For this reason and with knowledge of the facts, I can talk about the big mistake that some professional people make or not.
It is essential to break the myth that people with autism lack feelings and emotions, that they are cold people who do not show affection; For this, it is necessary to separate the problems of social interaction that people with ASD have, from emotions. Let’s deal today with this topic from a professional point of view.
Emotions are quite complex, since they are linked to our mental life,so they define who we are from our perspective, like that of others. But really they are achieved by all people, their understanding is linked to the experiences of our immediate environment.
And although it may seem paradoxical, it is very common for some to wonder if children with autism have feelings? The answer is clear, YES.
Children with autism feel: they cry, they laugh, they get angry, they get sad, they love, they suffer, they get excited, they enjoy… Like all of us, simply the way they show it is different from how they taught each one of us .Difficulties are found when it comes to channeling those emotions, but in their own way they know how to show what they feel. Any child tells you that “he loves you” and when we are sad they notice it and give you all their affection; but when a child with autism tells you it is evident that he is sorry because they rarely lie. It is still difficult for them to appreciate our feelings more because of our facial features, but if they realize they make a gesture that attracts your attention and for me, given its difficulty, this is a great effort they make to understand and adapt to our complicated emotional world, this it fills you twice because they show their affection towards you.
We must break with the idea that they are lost or isolated in their world or strange people, they really are normal but they are immersed in a reality that they cannot understand, but with the help of all of us, they can understand this complex world in which we live and even our meaning in life.
It is true that social interactions are somewhat complicated, due to the rapid exchanges that they entail, children with ASD due to their attention difficulties need more time to change their focus of attention between their audience and the visual stimulus, that is, they have difficulty processing the emotions.
Everything related to the theory of mind and the affectation that it causes to children with ASD at an emotional level is clearly reflected in everything said before, leaving a record of their alteration at this level that makes it difficult for them to perceive, express, feel and understand emotions in the same way that neurotypical people do.
Everyone, absolutely everyone feels, and it doesn’t matter or shouldn’t care how we do it, that’s why we have an innate mechanism that allows us to acquire that capacity and emotional ability that makes us grow as people and prepares us for the call ” survival of the species and of the human being” in this society that surrounds us.
People with ASD have limitations due to emotional contagion, that is, limitations to show empathy and to understand, recognize and express emotions, all of this makes it difficult for them to integrate into society and, even worse, affects their quality. of life and that of their families. Despite this, this emotional limitation does not mean that people with ASD lack expressions of affection towards others. Proof of this is that the vast majority of young children with autism already express clear ties to their parents.