Autism Co-Existing With Alexithymia, Echolalia and Echopraxia (Pre-Re-Edit)

[QuantumZero125]

I honestly don't get why people with Aspergers find it so hard to answer ''how are you feeling''. I mean, why don't you just say ''neutral'' or something. If you aren't aware of your emotions, then you just aren't feeling any. Simple as that.

[agentleastlikely]

@QuantumZero125 The emotions can be felt but not necessarily named. Emotions may be expressed via actions and can be felt but they cannot necessarily be articulated. It would be inaccurate to say you are feeling 'neutral' if you do not know, yet the presence of emotion is manifest in actions, etc. I feel emotions very intensely, but I very often find the spontaneous description of emotions to be problematic, in much the same way I can recognise a face but not necessarily name its owner.

[QuantumZero125]

@agentleastlikely I'm trying to understand what you're saying with science because I can't say I have ever experienced that. Emotion is processed in two major areas of the brain, namely the limbic system and the prefrontal lobes. The latter receives emotional information from the former, thus making us aware of our emotions. Without the activation of the prefrontal lobes, you cannot make facial expression, which results in feeling not feeling emotion. Therefore, you do feel neutral.

[TheIsaacs22]

@QuantumZero125 People who have Alexithymia which is apart of their Autism will not be able to process "neutral" because the those feeling have not been processed yet. For example if I have argument with someone it can take up to 2 weeks for me to process how I felt at that time. It is processing issue which affects the persons OWN emotional awareness. It can sometimes take me months to process emotions depending on what the situation is.

[WhisperoftheGarden]

Thank you very much! I have gained a deeper understanding of these behaviors because of your sincere sharing of your personal experiences. Very helpful!

[NecatorNimrod]

hats off to you! amazing! thank you! so very useful!

[queersomething]

YES. exactly! i feel like i have no middle ground! oh my god i just learned about alexithymia but i have been feeling like this forever. what a relief.

[Buffheart]

Thank you so much! I have Asperger's and I also suspect Echolalia and Echopraxia. When I was younger I would repeat movies word-for-word which would annoy my family because they couldn't hear the movie but I didn't do it on purpose!

I also have a hard time with feelings. I hate the question "how are you today?" because I don't know! I usually say "I'm fine" and hope they don't pry further. If they do I say "I honestly don't know. I'm not mad or sad or happy. I just AM!"

[sunflag90]

Found this video while studying for my psychology exam! Really interesting! Thank you for the video! :)

This summer I might work with kids with autism. Do you have any tips? :-)

[Unstopablx]

i thought you were a woman from the search results. good video!

[sarah1oszter]

This is great, I wish it wasn't so difficult to hear but other than that it's wonderful!

[bucephalus00]

I love reciting the "Ezekiel 25:17" scene from Pulp Fiction in the car. it gets a bit shouty to do in public. I do parrot things from commercials too

[TheIsaacs22]

@bucephalus00 Thats brilliant! :-) I suppose what it is linked to is having a really good memory and being able to recall (through echolalia) all the lines from your favourite movie. :-)

[bucephalus00]

@TheIsaacs22

have you seen that bit?  the entire scene is awesome and quite hilarious. youtube won't let me post a link tho:(

[bucephalus00]

I love reciting the "Ezekiel 25:17" scene in Pulp Fiction but i only get the chance to do it in my car by myself as it is a bit shouty. I tend to parrot things from commercials

[1210donna]

so proud of you Paul. You've taken some of the important pieces of autism fruit salad and given people a personal face to them.

[TheIsaacs22]

@1210donna Thanks Very Much Donna I like the fruit analogy of Autism its makes so much sense. :-)