Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT
Is Emily an Aspie?
DSL:
--- Quote from: MillionDollar Belt Sander on 12 Dec 2012, 15:43 ---You normal people crack me up ...:roll:
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Why, that's ... um ... normal-normative.
Sassafras:
--- Quote from: Mr_Rose on 12 Dec 2012, 09:42 ---Emily, on the other hand, is not trying but failing due to a literal inability to spot others, nonverbal social cues; she appears to simply literally not care.
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Isn't either one possible at this point? I don't really see anything about Emily's behavior that shows that she strictly does not care. I mean, we haven't actually seen someone point-blank tell her that she's making them uncomfortable or offending them, have we? What looks like "not caring" could just as easily be "doesn't realize she's coming off weird because she doesn't catch social cues".
--- Quote from: foolsguinea on 12 Dec 2012, 19:16 ---If I recall correctly, Aspies tend to have trouble with humor, avoid being touched, stuff like that. They also are supposed to be more analytical and less social, I think. Emily's the sort of goofball that gets mistaken for Aspie. Eccentric, maybe lower than average intelligence in some ways, but not the analytical, low-empathizing, asocial type that is supposed to define the syndrome.
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Autism is a spectrum disorder, and someone can have varying degrees (and various severities) of the various symptoms. So even if she's missing some of the "classic" characteristics doesn't necessarily mean she's not some flavor of autistic.
Also, people with autism have senses of humor, they sometimes just have trouble conveying humor or understanding the way others convey humor. For example, I find QC hilarious, but if any of the funny moments happened in front of me I might be confused by it being auditory rather than text and happening in real time without the freedom to digest the words.
"Low-empathizing" is an unfair characterization. Autistic people do have empathy; the thing is that since people with autism have difficulty reading social cues, they may miss the signals that neurotypical people are putting out about their emotions. So an autistic person may need an extra clue or outright verbal confirmation of someone else's feelings, but once they know they empathize just fine. I might not realize I've hurt someone's feelings, but if they tell me that I've hurt their feelings, I'm mortified.
Carl-E:
First, I'd like to mention that I'm no expert.
I do, however, have two nephews that area t opposite ends of the autism spectrum. The older is quite severe, has extreme dificulty functioning in any way, the other has been mainstreamed at school and functions quite well with only a few of the more common "tell tales", like reduced eye contact and obsessive attitudes on a few topics. I've also had two students over the years who identified themselves as Aspies (one used that term self referentially, that was just two years ago).
With all that being said, I can certainly see the identification of Emily as a person with AS. "Banana smoothie!" as a summary of her training certainly fits right in there. She doesn't seem to shun social interaction or eye contact, but that can also be the result of a "bull by the horns" attitude, similar to one of my students who, realizing his difficulties in that area sort of went overboard in the opposite direction; he adopted a very unnerving continual stare and near compulsive handshaking every time a conversation ended (seriously - everything from a brief question after class to an office visit to an encounter in the halls ended with a handshake. It was a bit weird, but I'm sure it was because he'd observed it as a part of "normal" interactions).
But like a lot of behaviours on the autism spectrum, Emily's actions (and reactions) can have multiple interpretations. AS? Maybe. A little nutty? Perhaps. Raised as an over-indulged only child? That may explain more of it than anything else... we'll just have to see how these things develop!
Akima:
--- Quote from: user-abuser on 12 Dec 2012, 15:40 ---People with autism and aspergers often use this referring to themselves.
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This, this right here, is an extremely bad criterion for deciding whether it is OK to use a term when referring to other people. What is acceptable for members of a group to call themselves, and what it is acceptable for non-members to say, are very different things.
pwhodges:
This is why I needed to do some research.
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