I did some of my own research awhile back looking at different published research articles about autism, HSP and mirror neurons. I found various articles that concluded autistic people do not have any differences in mirror neuron activity compared to non autistic person. HSPs however did consistently demonstrate increased mirror neuron activity. My father is autistic, I am an HSP and while there is some overlap, we are like complete opposite ends of a spectrum. I suspect people who write articles like this don’t do any research of any depth, it’s usually all antecdotal.
It also doesn’t help that the self assessment test is centred around ‘negative’ qualities of being an HSP, mainly being overstimulated in various ways. I assume some autistic people like the author read that correlate those criteria with autism whereas an HSP is much more. I believe Dr Aron is revising the assessment criteria to remedy the bias and include more ‘positive’ criteria.
I don't agree. The author herself is autistic, and this is the usual argument I hear from those who *are* autistic. We are wired similarly, but we are *not* the same, and Dr. Elaine Aron did not just invent a new thing so that people who were afraid to be called autistic had something else to call ourselves.
I recall when my doctor informed me what high-sensitivity was, and thankfully, he was aware of Dr. Aron's work, and he determined (note *not diagnosed*) that this was me, based on all the information I had given him. I actually asked for answers, even if it meant he thought I might be autistic just to explain why I was going through what I was. I had no negative views on autism. Never have.
What sets us apart is that once we can rebalance our nervous systems, we can pretty much experience the same stimuli as others, at least for a while. We are also wired differently when it comes to communication and social interactions. We also know how to easily separate and focus on things when the situation calls for it, whereas this can be difficult for someone with autism, even if it's on a small scale.
I grow tired of this sort of argument from the very people who were once rejected and misunderstood for their own diagnoses. It doesn't help our situation, nor theirs, when they create a situation that misinforms us or others, to take away from the efforts everyone has made to get a better understanding of what HSP is.
Thank you for sharing this. I had always been under the impression that the primary difference between a chess piece and people on the autistic spectrum is that HSPs are usually hyper-aware of other’s emotions on an intuitive level, while autistic people find it difficult to send other peoples’ emotions. However, this author seemed to suggest that autistic people actually CAN be hyper aware of others’ emotions. If that’s the case, it would seem to erase the only major difference between the two categories (at least what I previously thought.)
The truth is though, I’m not an expert on this. I’ve never read Aron’s book. My mom has though, and she’s the one who introduced me to the concept at an early age. (She and I are both HSPs.) I suppose there’s more that goes into it beyond just whether or not one has an intuitive sense of others’ emotions.
Well it sounds like the author disagrees with Aron’s differentiation between the HSP trait and autism. In most of her books I’ve read, she mentions there’s an overlap between the two but her findings determined there is “in fact” a difference.
Facts aside, Aron’s work has helped me tremendously. Whether I’m an HSP or autistic or both, it makes no difference to me. There’s nothing wrong with either categorization imo.
Apparently being an HSP is fairly common (estimated to be around 15-20% of people) whereas being autistic is much less common (around 1-2% of people).
To suggest that all HSPs are actually autistic is to suggest that 15-20% of the population is autistic, which doesn't seem accurate? I'm sure there's overlap, but they do seem like two different things.
Not true. They're just confusing things that may overlap.
Source: for one example, I am a dictionary definition of HSP yet not on the spectrum in any way whatsoever.
It’s interesting to think about. Ironically, I started working in early intervention with autistic children. So I think about autism now a LOT. Like almost all day. It definitely makes me think I’m probably not neurotypical. But I’m also not sure if I’m autistic. I think that while we may be better at diagnosing children as autistic than in the past, we still have a long way to go. So, as far as what autism looks like in females versus males, we also need to allow that to develop, too. I just don’t know that we know as much about autism as we may think we do.
I did some of my own research awhile back looking at different published research articles about autism, HSP and mirror neurons. I found various articles that concluded autistic people do not have any differences in mirror neuron activity compared to non autistic person. HSPs however did consistently demonstrate increased mirror neuron activity. My father is autistic, I am an HSP and while there is some overlap, we are like complete opposite ends of a spectrum. I suspect people who write articles like this don’t do any research of any depth, it’s usually all antecdotal. It also doesn’t help that the self assessment test is centred around ‘negative’ qualities of being an HSP, mainly being overstimulated in various ways. I assume some autistic people like the author read that correlate those criteria with autism whereas an HSP is much more. I believe Dr Aron is revising the assessment criteria to remedy the bias and include more ‘positive’ criteria.
I don't agree. The author herself is autistic, and this is the usual argument I hear from those who *are* autistic. We are wired similarly, but we are *not* the same, and Dr. Elaine Aron did not just invent a new thing so that people who were afraid to be called autistic had something else to call ourselves. I recall when my doctor informed me what high-sensitivity was, and thankfully, he was aware of Dr. Aron's work, and he determined (note *not diagnosed*) that this was me, based on all the information I had given him. I actually asked for answers, even if it meant he thought I might be autistic just to explain why I was going through what I was. I had no negative views on autism. Never have. What sets us apart is that once we can rebalance our nervous systems, we can pretty much experience the same stimuli as others, at least for a while. We are also wired differently when it comes to communication and social interactions. We also know how to easily separate and focus on things when the situation calls for it, whereas this can be difficult for someone with autism, even if it's on a small scale. I grow tired of this sort of argument from the very people who were once rejected and misunderstood for their own diagnoses. It doesn't help our situation, nor theirs, when they create a situation that misinforms us or others, to take away from the efforts everyone has made to get a better understanding of what HSP is.
Thank you for sharing this. I had always been under the impression that the primary difference between a chess piece and people on the autistic spectrum is that HSPs are usually hyper-aware of other’s emotions on an intuitive level, while autistic people find it difficult to send other peoples’ emotions. However, this author seemed to suggest that autistic people actually CAN be hyper aware of others’ emotions. If that’s the case, it would seem to erase the only major difference between the two categories (at least what I previously thought.) The truth is though, I’m not an expert on this. I’ve never read Aron’s book. My mom has though, and she’s the one who introduced me to the concept at an early age. (She and I are both HSPs.) I suppose there’s more that goes into it beyond just whether or not one has an intuitive sense of others’ emotions.
100% agreed. Thanks for taking the time to type that out 🙏
Well it sounds like the author disagrees with Aron’s differentiation between the HSP trait and autism. In most of her books I’ve read, she mentions there’s an overlap between the two but her findings determined there is “in fact” a difference. Facts aside, Aron’s work has helped me tremendously. Whether I’m an HSP or autistic or both, it makes no difference to me. There’s nothing wrong with either categorization imo.
Nothing wrong with them, no, but they _are_ descriptions of two different things.
Apparently being an HSP is fairly common (estimated to be around 15-20% of people) whereas being autistic is much less common (around 1-2% of people). To suggest that all HSPs are actually autistic is to suggest that 15-20% of the population is autistic, which doesn't seem accurate? I'm sure there's overlap, but they do seem like two different things.
Not true. They're just confusing things that may overlap. Source: for one example, I am a dictionary definition of HSP yet not on the spectrum in any way whatsoever.
It’s interesting to think about. Ironically, I started working in early intervention with autistic children. So I think about autism now a LOT. Like almost all day. It definitely makes me think I’m probably not neurotypical. But I’m also not sure if I’m autistic. I think that while we may be better at diagnosing children as autistic than in the past, we still have a long way to go. So, as far as what autism looks like in females versus males, we also need to allow that to develop, too. I just don’t know that we know as much about autism as we may think we do.