The Robot Myth: Do Autistic People Feel Emotions?

If you watch movies, you might think Autistic people are like robots or aliens—cold, logical, and detached from human feeling. (Think Spock or Sheldon Cooper).

This stereotype is not just wrong; for most of us, it is the exact opposite of the truth.

The reality is that Autistic people often feel emotions more intensely than neurotypical people. We just process and show them differently.

Here is the truth about the Autistic heart.

1. The Volume Knob (Hyper-Empathy)

Far from feeling “nothing,” many Autistic people live in a state of Hyper-Empathy.

• The Sponge Effect: We often absorb the emotions of everyone in the room. If you are sad, we feel physically sick. If a character in a movie gets embarrassed, we have to leave the room because the second-hand embarrassment is painful.
• Justice Sensitivity: We often feel an intense, burning rage at injustice. We cannot just “let it go” when something is unfair.

The “meltdown” you see on the outside isn’t a lack of control; it is often an explosion of feeling too much, all at once.

2. The “Face” Disconnect (Flat Affect)

So, why do people think we are emotionless? Because of Flat Affect.

In neurotypical communication, your face is expected to match your words. If you are happy, you smile.

• The Autistic Difference: Our facial expressions don’t always update automatically. We might be feeling pure joy inside, but our face remains neutral.
• The Misunderstanding: You give us a gift. We love it. But because we don’t gasp and grin, you think we hate it. We don’t; our face just forgot to send the memo.

3. The Naming Problem (Alexithymia)

There is a specific trait common in Autism called Alexithymia.

This means “blindness to emotions.”

• It doesn’t mean we don’t feel the emotion.
• It means we struggle to identify which one it is.

A neurotypical person says: “I am anxious.”

An Autistic person says: “My stomach hurts, my hands are sweating, and I feel like running away, but I don’t know why.”

We feel the physical sensation of the emotion deeply, but the label is missing.

4. Cognitive vs. Affective Empathy

Psychologists divide empathy into two types, and this explains the confusion perfectly.

• Cognitive Empathy: The ability to predict what someone is thinking (“I know he will be mad if I say this”). Autistic people often struggle with this.
• Affective Empathy: The ability to feel what someone is feeling (“He is crying, so I feel sad”). Autistic people often excel at this.

We might not know why you are crying (social confusion), but we are devastated that you are crying (emotional connection).

Summary

We are not robots. We are humans with the sensitivity dial turned up to 11. If we seem distant, it is often because we are protecting ourselves from feeling too much, not too little.