Welcome to Tony Attwood's Website
A guide for parents, professionals and people with Asperger's Syndrome or Autism Spectrum Disorder Level 1 and their partners.
Ask Dr. Tony Webcasts
Regular podcasts in conversation with autismhangout.com founder/reporter Craig Evans > More Info
Participate in Research
Read about research projects that are seeking participation and find out how to get involved > More Info
to be one of the world’s foremost experts on
Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Upcoming Events
Books by Tony Attwood
Tony has published many books about Asperger's Syndrome and Autism.
He has also co-authored and contributed to publications with other experts.
He has also co-authored and contributed to publications with other experts.
New Release Out Now
Autism Working:
A Seven-Stage Plan to Thriving at Work
By Tony Attwood and Michelle Garnett
Tony Attwood, Michelle Garnett, Julia Cook, Louise Ford, and Stefanie Runham
Attwood & Garnett Events
FOUNDED BY PROFESSOR TONY ATTWOOD & DR MICHELLE GARNETT
Dr Michelle Garnett PhD is a clinical psychologist who has specialised in autism within her own private practice for over 27 years. She has co-authored six highly regarded books on autism, five with Prof Tony Attwood. Her 2018 book with Barb Cook is a seminal work on the female presentation, Spectrum Women: Walking to the Beat of Autism. Her most recent books Having Fun with Feelings on the Autism Spectrum and Ten Steps to Reducing Your Child’s Anxiety on the Autism Spectrum provide guidance to parents of young children on the autism spectrum.
Together Tony and Michelle have created a series of online courses that are available to download. There are also webinars consisting of a series of mater classes.
Recent Articles by Tony
19 October 2022
Autistic mothers As clinicians, we work with families that have one or several autistic children and we have increasingly been able to recognise the subtle characteristics of autism in the profile of abilities...
09 October 2022
How to create and autism-friendly home Introduction As parents get to know the profile of abilities and daily challenges of their autistic child, they make accommodations at home to create an autism-friendly...
17 September 2022
Explaining autism to a child or adolescent The value of an explanation Our clinical experience indicates that it is extremely important that autism is explained to a child or adolescent as soon as possible...
Tony's Facebook Feed
This is a fantastic poem by an amazing autistic 12-year-old Autistic Realms as she describes her feelings and thoughts about autism.![]()
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twitter.com/autisticrealms![]()
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#autism #autistic #autismawareness #autismacceptance #autismfamily #autismspectrum #autismparents #NDIS #attwoodandgarnettevents #psychologist #psychology #alliedhealth #alliedhealthprofessionals #alliedhealthcare #teachers #specialeducator #specialeducation #specialeducationalneeds #specialeducationteacher #psychiatry
Understanding Empathy and Autism![]()
By Professor Tony Attwood and Dr Michelle Garnett![]()
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Empathy![]()
We know that there are three forms of empathy; cognitive, affective, and behavioural, and that the expression of each is underpinned by similar and different neurological structures in the prefrontal cortex. Cognitive empathy is the ability to determine what someone is feeling or thinking by ‘reading’ their facial expressions, gestures, vocal tone, and the social context. An autistic person may need to use intellect rather than intuitive abilities to identify and process nonverbal communication that they see and hear. Affective or emotional empathy is the ability to ‘feel’ the emotions of others. A recurring theme from our clinical experience of talking to autistic teenagers and adults and reading autobiographies is an over-sensitivity to the negative feelings of other people. Behavioural empathy is knowing how to respond to someone’s feelings. Autism is associated with uncertainty in identifying what is expected to be said or done to alleviate or respond to someone’s feelings.![]()
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Emotional empathy![]()
A central characteristic of autism is difficulty knowing how to read and respond to the emotions of others (Schwenck et al 2012). However, clinical experience indicates that there is a hypersensitivity to feeling another person’s negative emotions such as disappointment, anxiety or agitation. Autistic individuals have a remarkable capacity to mirror, or amplify within themselves, how another person feels (Fletcher-Watson and Bird 2020). As one of the participants in that study said, “We express empathy differently.” This capacity has been described as empathy over-arousal (Smith 2009) and occurs in both autistic males and females (Schwenck et al 2012). ![]()
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We have yet to determine how this capacity is achieved but quotations from autistic adults may provide some indication. ![]()
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I am able to distinguish very subtle cues that others would not see, or it might be a feeling I pick up from them.![]()
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There’s a kind of instant subconscious reaction to the emotional states of other people that I have understood better in myself over the years![]()
Emotional empathy can occur with all expressions of autism. Robert Hughes (2003) wrote about his non-speaking autistic son, Walker whom he described as being a “supersensitive emotional barometer who registered the true emotional pressure in the air, no matter how hard we tried to mask it”. ![]()
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Exteroception![]()
We have long recognized that a characteristic of autism is an extraordinary perception of sensory experiences from the external world which we describe as exteroception sensitivity. This can be a heightened sensitivity to sounds, light intensity, tactile experiences, aromas, and tastes. We speculate that exteroception may include a sensitivity to the emotions of other people. An extraordinary ‘sixth’ sense that can be a response to being with someone who is experiencing negative emotions, but also responding to suffering on television news and in documentaries far more than is typical.![]()
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In contrast to heightened exteroception, an autistic person can have difficulty with interoception, that is perceiving their own internal sensory experiences, such as not being consciously aware of increasing heart rate and breathing that indicate rising anxiety or agitation. In his autobiography, Aaron Wahl (2019) wrote I perceived the feelings of others often overly clear but could not find access to my own. ![]()
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Negative and positive emotions![]()
Our clinical experience indicates that there is an extraordinary perception and sensitivity to another person’s negative emotions, as in the comment If someone approaches me for a conversation and they are full of worry, fear or anger, I find myself suddenly in the same state of emotion. Negative emotions in others are ‘infectious’ to an autistic person. One of our clients’ said Emotions are contagious for me. Emotional empathy may be one of the reasons why autistic individuals avoid crowds due to the risk of proximity to someone who is experiencing a negative mood and being ‘infected’ by that mood.![]()
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As psychologists, we often try to determine why an autistic person experiences a negative emotion, and one of the reasons may not be due to a specific event or thought but being ‘infected’ by someone’s negative feelings. This may also contribute to a characteristic of autism of avoiding eye contact since the eyes convey feelings (Smith 2009). ![]()
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Social withdrawal for an autistic person is not exclusively due to social expectations and sensitivity to auditory, visual, and tactile experiences. Lilian said, We don’t have emotional skin or protection. We are exposed, and that is why we hide. The sensitivity to the negative mood of others can lead to wanting everyone to be happy. ![]()
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While we have found that someone’s negative mood can be contagious for an autistic person, they may not be equally ‘infected’ by someone’s positive mood. They can seem impervious to someone trying to ‘jolly them up’. Happy and exuberant positive emotions in others may sometimes cause an autistic person to be confused and uncomfortable and not know how to respond or resonate with others, for example, at a family celebration or reunion or when someone receives exciting news.![]()
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There seems to be a preference for a middle to neutral range of emotions in others, both negative and positive emotions. If there is any greater intensity, the autistic person may become confused, overwhelmed and unsure of what they are expected to do or say.![]()
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Further information![]()
If you are interested in learning more about emotional empathy and autism and how it impacts on autistic women in particular, we are hosting a full-day webcast for autistic women and family members and professionals who support them on the 28th of October. We hope to see you there!![]()
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attwoodandgarnettevents.com/.../autistic-girls.../![]()
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** The information in this post is from either peer-reviewed research or the perspectives and experiences of many autistic individuals from clinical experience and communications and may not apply to each person.![]()
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#autism #autistic #autismawareness #autismacceptance #autismfamily #autismspectrum #autismparents #NDIS #attwoodandgarnettevents #psychologist #psychology #alliedhealth #alliedhealthprofessionals #alliedhealthcare #teachers #specialeducator #specialeducation #specialeducationalneeds #specialeducationteacher #psychiatry
What are some benefits to an Autism Diagnostic Confirmation![]()
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When confirming the diagnosis of autism, we often notice a sense of relief, vindication, and validation, their autism has been ‘discovered’. Gradually there is a process of making sense of past and current experiences through the new lens of autism. There is less self-blame and self-judgement and more self-compassion and confidence with increased agency and the potential for a new identity and authenticity. There is invariably a reduction in the desire to camouflage the characteristics of autism.![]()
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We discuss how to explain the diagnosis to a partner, family members, friends, and colleagues, if that is a desired outcome. We anticipate the person may encounter difficulties in being believed because she may not represent societies stereotype of autism. Common responses can include, “Oh but you are too empathic/social/warm/friendly” or “oh aren’t we all a bit on the spectrum!” It can be helpful to be emotionally prepared and have pre-thought-out and respectful answers for such comments. Fortunately, there is growing awareness and acceptance of the characteristics of autistic girls and women, but some members of our community need more knowledge and time to understand.![]()
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The diagnosis can also lead to connecting with other autistic women and benefitting from their guidance and experiences. We have found that this will lead to better self-understanding, self-regulation and reduce anxiety and depression and the potential for autistic burnout.![]()
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This week are have our Autistic Girls and Women webcast, covering many topics to celebrate the unique presentation of autistic girls and women. It will increase awareness and knowledge of the female presentation of autism and share strategies we find useful in clinical practice. We will address key challenges, including self-understanding, adolescence, relationships and expressing and managing emotions. We will provide strategies to maximise the possibility of successful outcomes.![]()
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attwoodandgarnettevents.com/product/autistic-girls-and-women/![]()
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** The information in this post is from either peer-reviewed research or the perspectives and experiences of many autistic individuals from clinical experience and communications and may not apply to each person.![]()
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#autism #autistic #autismawareness #autismacceptance #autismfamily #autismspectrum #autismparents #NDIS #attwoodandgarnettevents #psychologist #psychology #alliedhealth #alliedhealthprofessionals #alliedhealthcare #teachers #specialeducator #specialeducation #specialeducationalneeds #specialeducationteacher #psychiatry