Are people with Aspergers Selfish?

Post Reply New Topic

I am more into enlightened self interest.

I definitely lack elements of cognitive empathy, but this does not mean I am incapable of selflessness or generosity.

Well said.

I'm unfamiliar with both terms. Could you explain them to me?

Aspies live in a world with only one person in it - applying neurotypical standards to that disability and calling it selfish smacks of the unproductive.

Unknowingly selfish. In the recent years I've learned empathy and caring for others, but I might not always be that way. I tend to fall into old habits. My interests are still my no.1 love and I'll ignore people so I can be with an interest for longer. Although most authors have no choice but to do that.

If I was talking to someone other than my mother who has a relatively good idea of how my emotions work (or don't work) yesterday afternoon, I might have been perceived as selfish. I asked her if I would be able to get a ride to the store as it was the first, and she told me my stepfather has cancer. I tried to come up with something sympathetic (a typical scripted response) and then asked again about going to the store.

Does this mean I am selfish? Well, no. Not really. Does it mean that I have great difficulty addressing emotionally explosive topics when dropped on me unexpectedly? Definitely.

I actually started quietly freaking out about the cancer a few hours ago.

I put others before me problematically much.

Completely off-topic but... is that a Silver Surfer avatar? And if so, where is it from? (And if not, what is it?)

I used to, but I think an abusive relationship cured me of that to some extent.

I can still be overly generous at times.

Therapy is trying to cure me of it. Along with lots of other things like trying to work on my meltdowns and trying to get my self esteem back to where it should be.

Your version of curing is significantly better than mine. I wouldn't recommend anyone else attempt to duplicate my method.

Yes... abusive relationships are a bad idea. Therapy is a much better idea. Even if its feeling like going through this is part of why I'm having more meltdowns and fewer shutdowns and its messing with my self esteem a pretty huge amount. I hate meltdowns. I want my primarily being a shutdown person back.

I am sometimes.

I'm pretty selfish, I admit. Probably because I have noone I really care about.

I tend to view selfishness as a separate trait, since both spectrumites and NTs can be selfish. With that said, I don't view myself as being selfish (based on my actions and thoughts).

Aspies can be just as selfish as NTs. In fact, selfishness is more common in men.