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The world may be becoming more open to reducing the stigma around mental health, but there are still a lot of misconceptions in the field. For example, it was previously thought that people with autism could not feel empathy and sympathy. However, studies have proven otherwise. Experts even say that the fine line between autism spectrum disorder or ASD and alexithymia should be defined. 

What is alexithymia?

Sympathy is the expression of care about another person's sadness, grief, or trouble, while empathy is the ability to put yourself in their shoes, allowing you to build a deeper connection. Recent studies say both emotions can be felt by individuals with autism. 

However, they have trouble articulating it - this is alexithymia, a trait where a person is unable to identify and describe what they are feeling and what others are feeling. In short, people characterized with alexithymia can feel empathy, but they do not know that they can, nor can they describe this feeling. At the same time, they have difficulty responding to their own and others' emotions.

Autism and empathy

Not all autistic people have alexithymia. A study conducted in 2019 showed that only about 50 percent of people with autism also have alexithymia. Another study also showed that people with ASD have difficulty recognizing and displaying facial expressions.

Putting these factors together results in the possible reason why outdated perceptions say that individuals with autism cannot feel empathy. However, combined teaching methods like a classroom setting, role-playing and cognitive behavioral therapy can help in teaching children with ASD to learn to recognize and describe emotions, whether it is their own or that of others.