Contagious yawning?

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I have read that autistic people typically do not yawn when others do (which is something that NT people do a lot of the time). Do you yawn when others do?

Yes, occasionally. I may also yawn when I see an animal yawning, read about yawning, or talk about the contagious yawn effect.

I don't think it's as strong an impulse for me as for most people, but it can happen. I used to think I didn't experience this effect, but I do; just weakly and in more situations.

In NTs, the effect is strongest when they see another human being yawning. I don't think this is true for me. Anything that gets me thinking about yawning will do it.

I don't yawn when others do.

Doesn't happen here.
However, there is a chance that I might yawn when someone I know very well does so (like closest relatives).

My son, diagnosed with AS, doesn't catch yawns at all. I noticed this a few years back, and we've experimented with looking at yawning people irl, on tv, animals yawning, reading about yawning, thinking about yawning .... Nothing!

almost all the time

I used to think yawn contagion was a load of bollocks, just some kind of urban myth. That was until I saw a video on You Tube that demonstrated that yawn contagion is linked to empathy. They showed a clip of a chimpanzee watching an animation of a chimp yawning causing them to yawn in return.

So no, I don't yawn when others do (not that I'm aware of anyway).

Yup, me too. (I'm just like Hanyo.)

I don't. I don't understand why I should. I don't understand why people criticize me when I don't.

When you yawn after seeing someone else yawn it isn't a conscious choice. The person who yawns after seeing someone else do it yawns automatically, even if they do not want to yawn. I think it is odd that anyone would criticize you for not doing it.

Maybe they believe he is forcibly not yawning in order to appear "above it all." People will invent reasons to criticize even minor differences.

That said, I do get contagious yawns. In fact I've yawned several times while reading this thread.

No, I don't.

I remember someone saying she criticized me for that because I wasn't being empathic according to her.

Not really. I sneeze when other people sneeze, though.

I usually do yawn when other people do.

I think these yawning posts call into question the prevailing idea that people on the spectrum are less likely to yawn contagiously, and so the underlying mechanism doesn't function.

What I have noticed in the responses is that people on this site seem to either not respond to yawns or they have a hyperactive response, like myself. The word yawn, the idea of yawning, images of yawning, animals yawning, can all send me into excessive fits of yawning.

What this seems to suggest to me is that it is not a matter of the underlying system not working, but instead, not working properly.

I do admit that I may be victim of the selection bias, those who do not experience an extreme response either direction simply may not be interested in these post. I do however believe it is still worth contemplation...