Empathy

I read a good article addressing speculation about the Sandy Hook killer having an ASD which linked to this blog which I've only had time to skim, but looks well informed, feisty, and the key ingredient, from the heart (you've got to have the latter to give the former any point as far as I'm concerned).  But from quick read-through I've done, one sentence stood out for its poignance and insight (and I've quoted the previous sentence to give it some context):

But whatever deficits autism might carry in terms of recognition [of empathy], it makes up for in terms of the shared feeling. My experience has been that once an autistic becomes aware of the other person's emotion, the feeling comes without a social construct, naked and in full, unmodulated.

Thank you so much for that Emily. I should probably hang on to this little draft and refine the many thoughts that this observation generates for me, but patience is not my strong suit and I just want to get it out there for others to mull over as well.  To be continued ...

Big Improvements!

In a matter of weeks, Secundo has dropped a great deal of attitude.  Whatever has brought it about, the boys are now often playing like children usually play; there is co-operation, consideration, there are imaginative scenarios, and there is a new aura of contentedness adorning this household.  Good heavens, I hardly know what to say about it!  I certainly know what to do with it; I'm always amazed at how quickly one forgets the bad as soon as one is rid of it, even on a temporary basis, be it chronic pain, emotional distress, all sorts of things.  For a few days I've been feeling like a different person.