Simon Tam = Asperger's?
POSTED BY: Miku
UPDATED: Monday, October 14, 2013 04:10
VIEWED: 17451
PAGE 5 of 6
Thanks.
I've read that essay too. It is a very accurate description I think.
I take it you are in Holland as well?
There's no place I can be since I found serenity.
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Honestly, I think we're blowing Simon's occasional spaziness around Kaylee way out of proportion. Simon has never struck me as being emotionally impaired in any way. He may be a little socially awkward around the crew, but that's because they're not the kind of people he's used to spending time with.
We've never seen Simon with the people he grew up with (except flashbacks to his family life) but he seems to have had a full social life. Heck, he got arrested for singing on top of the statue of Hipporcrates while wearing a fetching outfit of nothingness. Sounds like he knows how to party with people he's comfortable with!
Desktop Hippie: at one with the 'verse
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Miku:
I don't think Simon has Asperger's. I believe that the symptomatic behaviors described in the article are probably shockingly apparent to even an untrained observer. (I did love the "Is Paul there?" example given in the article, though.)
Part of the deal with mental/behavioral disorders is that they resemble the normal range of behaviors that almost everyone exhibits at some point or another, but are exaggerated to the point of pathology.
As such, I think Simon is merely a "geek", not dysfunctionally 'ill'/'gifted'. The good news is, he's got an experienced and enthusiastic physical therapist working his 'case', now...
Diagnostically,
zoid
P.S.
On a personal note, it's possible that I'm an undiagnosed sufferer of Asperger's Syndrome. But, I'm utterly disinterested in the notion, since it lies outside the focus of my "narrow but intense interests", specifically: Firefly, computers, and building locomotives made entirely of matchsticks and earwax.
P.P.S.
According to the "Geek Test" homepage, 90% of people with Asperger's scored 25 or higher. I got a 23 (concentrating on being very honest and not giving 'idealized' answers: what I really do, as opposed to what I'd like to think I do). For example: Do you value friends more than hobbies? I'd like to say 'friends', because it's clearly the socially correct answer; however, in reality, I much prefer quiet time with my interests than with my acquaintances. People are just so... icky... (NB: I would never belong to any club that would allow someone like me to be a member. Gotta have standards.)
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"I aim to misbehave." -Capt. Mal Reynolds, Serenity, a.k.a. 'the BDBOF'
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Quote:I need to get me one of those.
Originally posted by zoid:
The good news is, he's got an experienced and enthusiastic physical therapist working his 'case', now...
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mattcoz wrote:
Quote:
Quote:
Originally posted by zoid:
The good news is, he's got an experienced and enthusiastic physical therapist working his 'case', now...
I need to get me one of those.
Oughtta help with his 'stiffness', one way or the other...
v/r,
-zed
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"As an empathetic person myself, I "felt" Simon's reaction to his sister's amygdala being stripped was one of empathy, not a cold analysis of how a stripped amygdala functions and a resulting decision to "behave" empathetically. It is easy for me to tell when a person is simply "acting" like they feel an emotion, and when they actually "feel" an emotion."
Before I say anything, I'll repeat I'm not arguing that Simon has asperger's.
But you're still doing that thing where you think if someone isn't reacting because they are imagining being the other person, then it must be "cold" and "emotionless." Reason isn't the antithesis to emotion.
The tendency to 'feel the situation from their perspective' is what triggers the emotional reaction. Knowledge of what happened and why it's bad is another trigger to the emotional reaction. The knowledge of what's going on will invariably send our emotions into a fray (if it's something that matters to us), just as a mystical feeling of being one with the person in pain would also rile up the emotions.
Your choice of language strongly implies (actually, more like clearly states) that someone acting in a nonempathetic way, simply makes a choice to pretend to be emotionally affected. That offends me.
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Quote:
Originally posted by Miku:
"As an empathetic person myself, I "felt" Simon's reaction to his sister's amygdala being stripped was one of empathy, not a cold analysis of how a stripped amygdala functions and a resulting decision to "behave" empathetically. It is easy for me to tell when a person is simply "acting" like they feel an emotion, and when they actually "feel" an emotion."
Before I say anything, I'll repeat I'm not arguing that Simon has asperger's.
But you're still doing that thing where you think if someone isn't reacting because they are imagining being the other person, then it must be "cold" and "emotionless." Reason isn't the antithesis to emotion.
The tendency to 'feel the situation from their perspective' is what triggers the emotional reaction. Knowledge of what happened and why it's bad is another trigger to the emotional reaction. The knowledge of what's going on will invariably send our emotions into a fray (if it's something that matters to us), just as a mystical feeling of being one with the person in pain would also rile up the emotions.
Your choice of language strongly implies (actually, more like clearly states) that someone acting in a nonempathetic way, simply makes a choice to pretend to be emotionally affected. That offends me.
You're completely missing my point yet again. You asked how I knew he was feeling empathy so I explained it. I'm not saying that ALL Asperger's people cannot feel empathy or that they "pretend" to feel emotions. What I SAID was that I could TELL that Simon was NOT pretending to feel empathy. I felt that he was TRULY feeling it. And I said this was my own personal judgment and you could disagree with me if you like. I was NOT attacking you or trying to offend you, so please do not take it in that manner.
But this is completely off topic. The topic is whether or not he has Asperger's, and we've already established he does not fit the criteria.
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I love my Captain
Check out my Big Damn FF Icons at http://www.livejournal.com/community/bigdamnfficons/
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This time, you missed my point. I'm sure it's possible to tell whether someone is acting through typical empathy or not, but it's not the difference between reacting with emotion and reacting without emotion. It's a different difference than you seem to think it is.
Look, just read what you said here:
"It is easy for me to tell when a person is simply "acting" like they feel an emotion, and when they actually "feel" an emotion."
We're talking about judging whether someone is reacting out of empathy or not, not whether they feel an emotion or not. Do you understand that empathy and emotion are two situationally connected but completely different things?
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Quote:
Originally posted by Miku:
This time, you missed my point. I'm sure it's possible to tell whether someone is acting through typical empathy or not, but it's not the difference between reacting with emotion and reacting without emotion. It's a different difference than you seem to think it is.
Look, just read what you said here:
"It is easy for me to tell when a person is simply "acting" like they feel an emotion, and when they actually "feel" an emotion."
We're talking about judging whether someone is reacting out of empathy or not, not whether they feel an emotion or not. Do you understand that empathy and emotion are two situationally connected but completely different things?
Dude. I'm tired of trying to explain myself to you, so I'm just gonna drop out of this conversation now. I believe Simon shows empathy, you continue to argue completely different points with me.
Anyway, I've proven to my satisfaction that Simon does not meet the criteria for Asperger's, so I have nothing more to say on the subject. Whether you like my wording is completely your problem, not mine.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I love my Captain
Check out my Big Damn FF Icons at http://www.livejournal.com/community/bigdamnfficons/
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Eleka,
You're right on. My daughter is on the high end of the Asparger's spectrum too. I once asked her psychologist where he would place her and he said about 8.75 out of 10 with 1 being the worst.
Still there are lots of distictive characteristics that she has that makes her "different". She has learned, with maturity, to embrace her geekiness but put her and Simon together and it's very obvious that he would not have Asparger's. As you said she would have more in common with River than Simon.
One day.
One plan.
One army of Browncoats.
On June 23rd, we aim to misbehave.
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