I have never in my 15 years of knowing him wittnessed him experiencing any emotion other than anger, never sadness, he has zero empathy....is it normal that he doesnt feel real emotion??
They do have emotions. They just dont know how to express it the same way. If he can experience anger (which is an emotion), then he can experience other emotions. Anger and frustration are just very common because this world is so confusing for them when most other people seem to be in a different world. Can you imagine living in a foreign country. You dont understand the language, the norms, the rituals, and no matter how hard you try, you are only able to ever figure out just a small part of it. And as for the empathy part, a lot of people with autism miss cues. 90% of what is being conveyed in a conversation is through non-verbal language. Since they have a hard time with non-verbals, they pretty much miss out a lot of what is being communicated, especially the emotions part. They really just dont recognize other's emotions.
He might be experiencing Alexithymia, a condition often 1 in 10 people in the common population have, but often gets more likely and more severe with autism. It is characterized by an inability to understand their emotions, and so often have a lot of trouble managing it and expressing it.
Other than that, anger often has a deeper reason to it. Anger is rarely ever just anger. That's why you hear of depression or anxiety disorders, but never really anger disorder. There's a deeper reason of sadness or fear inside it.
Maybe check this website called the Atlas of Emotions for more.
very well put! My brother is also autistic. There is tons of information on Pubmed central about autism. A few titles I found interesting:
Helping and Cooperation in Children with Autism
Symptoms and Behavior Problems of Adolescents and Adults with Autism: Effects of Mother–Child Relationship Quality, Warmth, and Praise
Social Stimuli Interfere with Cognitive Control in Autism
You do realize...the definition of autism is NOT being able to feel emotion, nor understand it in others, right?
Ok, so now that we're clear...it's IMPOSSIBLE for him to really get in touch with his emotions if he's truly autistic.
cause thats pretty much what that is
