"The Empathy Within" - new Autistamatic video & channel update

[Autistamatic]

Hi Autistipeeps

The third and final instalment of the Autistamatic "Autism & Empathy" series has just gone live. After discussing how autistic people process empathy and give the impression that we don't, this last episode covers how other people's emotions make us feel inside and how it can contribute to meltdowns. This was quite an emotional one to make as well as the most technically challenging so far. I tried quite a few new ideas and techniques on this one which I think have worked well, though the perfectioinist in me can still find faults

I've also used a piece of artwork from one of our own in this one. @Monachopia thank you for allowing me to use "Tree of Life" - it's perfect

The Sci-Fi fans amongst us will find a little Easter Egg at the very end of the video btw
I have just put playlists on the channel since there's a couple of hours of content now. The "Autistic Thinking" and "Empathy & Autism" series can be watched complete along with another playlist of everything so far made in order.

In the next week or two we will be launching our Facebook and Twitter presence in addition to the existing Instagram account and start publicising the channel properly. We'll post here when that's done for those that are interested.

Finally - thanks to everyone on this forum for their insights and contributions that have helped me make the Empathy series in particular, and the support so many of you have shown since the channel started. You're a great bunch of people and I only wish I could get us all together in one (quiet) place to thank you personally.

So - The new video:

And the playlist of the 3 part series in full:

 

[Pats]

Another winner - and I like Hal. lol

 

[OkRad]

Hi Autistipeeps

The third and final instalment of the Autistamatic "Autism & Empathy" series has just gone live. After discussing how autistic people process empathy and give the impression that we don't, this last episode covers how other people's emotions make us feel inside and how it can contribute to meltdowns. This was quite an emotional one to make as well as the most technically challenging so far. I tried quite a few new ideas and techniques on this one which I think have worked well, though the perfectioinist in me can still find faults

I've also used a piece of artwork from one of our own in this one. @Monachopia thank you for allowing me to use "Tree of Life" - it's perfect

The Sci-Fi fans amongst us will find a little Easter Egg at the very end of the video btw
I have just put playlists on the channel since there's a couple of hours of content now. The "Autistic Thinking" and "Empathy & Autism" series can be watched complete along with another playlist of everything so far made in order.

In the next week or two we will be launching our Facebook and Twitter presence in addition to the existing Instagram account and start publicising the channel properly. We'll post here when that's done for those that are interested.

Finally - thanks to everyone on this forum for their insights and contributions that have helped me make the Empathy series in particular, and the support so many of you have shown since the channel started. You're a great bunch of people and I only wish I could get us all together in one (quiet) place to thank you personally.

So - The new video:

And the playlist of the 3 part series in full:

This is BEAUTIFUL and so well done and so touching. Your "Thank you" at the beginning touched me, too, because I know you were thanking a lot of the dear people on here, people who have helped me so much, too. This community is very awesome. And the way you presented this topic was SOOO well done, supernal in a way. It was clearly not an NT production, but had that "inside" feel, like you know, like you really know......cuz of course, you do!!

 

[Autistamatic]

This is BEAUTIFUL and so well done and so touching. Your "Thank you" at the beginning touched me, too, because I know you were thanking a lot of the dear people on here, people who have helped me so much, too. This community is very awesome. And the way you presented this topic was SOOO well done, supernal in a way. It was clearly not an NT production, but had that "inside" feel, like you know, like you really know......cuz of course, you do!!

Thanks @OkRad that means a lot to me Yes the people of this forum were very high on the list of those who I wanted to thank. I'm so glad you liked it and felt it spoke to you

 

[LunaAurum]

This was fantastic, thank you for doing this! I'm so glad to get new videos to watch as well (I ran out of documentaries while I work)

I find that autistic people are judged as lacking empathy because people in general are not all that empathetic/intelligent about complex emotions themselves. Ironically, they claim we lack empathy because they lack an understanding of our own emotional landscape.

There is a lot of performative empathy because people are usually taught how to care and get handed several scripts on how to act towards others. However this can be quite superficial, especially whenever a person encounters someone who is 'different' from themselves to a more significant degree (be it from gender, culture, race, being non-neurotypical, etc). It forces them to go off-script and step into less familiar territory, which people tend to be avoidant of. This is why all stereotypes- along with the ones about autism- are so prevalent in the first place. It shows that lack of depth in addressing other people's viewpoint, nuances and experiences, which is precisely the point of empathy.

Effective and active empathy does require effort, learning, time invested in others and stepping out of one's comfort zone, even for neurotypical people. Most people tend to be haphazard at empathy and emotional management the instant they are faced with the unfamiliar, pain, fear, etc. However they get leeway in being a bit lacking as long as they still fit the accepted standard and model. Unfortunately, ASD people don't fit that model as well, so their failure is with that standard, not with empathy itself.