Lack of Social Empathy
Temple Grandin’s lack of social life through her childhood does not change much in her adulthood. In an article written by Grandin, she admits, “almost all of my social contacts are with livestock people or people interested in autism” (Sacks 261). She interacts with “livestock people” because she works in the livestock industry, and researchers, just like Oliver Sacks, interview her to learn more about autism. Her social life does not span much further than that. Temple is not shy or isolated, however. Instead, Temple’s inability to grasp common social interactions and complex emotions proves to be her greatest obstacle in developing a personal life.
The moment Oliver Sacks meets Temple, he observes unique mannerisms. When Temple came to greet Oliver Sacks, she raised her hand very high for a handshake. Furthermore, she did not use any small talk with Oliver about his long trip, how he was feeling, or anything of that nature. Instead, she jumped right into her career and condition with sentences in a fixed, non-conversational manner. Sacks had to interrupt her organized train of thought to cure his dehydration, and Temple did not apologize for not offering anything to drink (257). Oliver Sacks explains this not to accuse Temple of being rude. Rather, she is unable to grasp common social manners. This way, small talk and common polite behavior never popped in her head.
Oliver Sacks explores her lack of social understanding by asking about her opinion of Greek myths and Shakespeare’s plays. She was able to understand the characters and their roles. Yet, human emotions, such as love or guilt, driven by complex motives puzzled her (Sacks 259). Throughout her professional career, due to her condition, she would often get taken advantage of, so she had to develop the ability to be suspicious of people’s intentions (Sacks 260). Over time, she has been able to improve her people skills. After lecturing in front of audiences for years, she expanded her ability to speak more clearly, use eye contact, and even integrate humor in her talks. Also, she can enjoy the presence of a couple friends and appreciates the nature of friendship (Sacks 273).
Although autism hinders her ability to relate to other humans, she slowly cultivated her own understanding of human emotions and can even socialize a bit. Still, she “lacks empathy for people’s states of mind and perspectives” (Sacks 269). This lack of empathy, characterized by Sacks, is called cognitive empathy. According to a review of adult women with autism spectrum disorders done by Francien M. Kok, "cognitive empathy refers to the ability to infer another person's state of mind, whereas affective empathy describes an individual's appropriate emotion reactions to another person's state of mind" (Kok 10). Tying together the characteristics of Temple with the definition of the study, and the information from the TED talk, Temple lacks a cognitive empathy that most "neurotypical" people have, while still expressing affective empathy.
