🧠The epitome of upside down thinking when it come to neurodivergence!
Exactly the processes explored in this study have sparked many a debate in my life.
Many times I have been stunned when good friends take what they argue are 'just what you have to do/part of life' decisions, that I have felt utterly unable to make as they appear to me straight immoral choices - that do have consequences even if they are divorced from us.
I am in those moments admittedly bemused as to why I struggle to function the same way as my friends and act their version of the 'appropriate' (read neuro(typical)normative) way.
At least this studies points to this difference more clearly, Shame that it is then described as a dysfunction in the autistic brain measured against 'Healthy Controls' (Do they mean Allistic Controls?) Pathologizing even traits that uphold higher ethical practice:
'However, the specific neurocomputational mechanisms at play that drive
the dysfunction of the rTPJ in moral decision-making remain unclear. Here, we show that ASD individuals are more inflexible when following a moral rule even though an immoral action can benefit themselves, and suffer an undue concern about their ill-gotten gains and the moral cost. Moreover, a selectively reduced rTPJ representation of information concerning moral rules was observed in ASD patients. These findings deepen our understanding of the neurobiological roots that underlie atypical moral behaviours in ASD patients.'
https://www.jneurosci.org/content/early/2020/11/09/JNEUROSCI.1237-20.2020The top comment on neuroclastic's page echoes through my life as well:
'Honestly what makes me angriest about this is that I *know for a fact* it's a larger barrier to employment for me than my social skills.
A lot of customer service is scripted and I'm really good at it. But I can't sacrifice my ethics day in, day out.'
https://neuroclastic.com/2020/11/07/autistic-people-care-too-much-research-says/amp