Oxytocin Isn't Lacking In Children With Autism

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Via NPR:
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/08 ... rchers-say

In my experience, Autistic people can be the most loving and overly-trusting of all because they don't get the social cues that would tell them not to trust.

Thank you so much for the link!

I've had students in my class expressing all levels of affection, but I try to keep in mind that feeling affection and expressing affection, even in and among NTs, can be two very different things and, like any other emotion, can be misinterpreted for better or for worse. I'm an optimist, so I presume some degree of at least benevolence is within each of us but try not to take it personally if I don't recieve or perceive it from each of my students. I just give "my kids" the best I can and respect them as individuals, regardless of what they may or may not feel/express.

Interesting article--thanks again.

I'm glad they've proved it now. I hate the stereotype that autistic people aren't really capable of love.

OT levels are hard to measure in human bodily fluids due to low endogenous levels, difficulty extracting from larger molecules that it tends to stick to in blood or saliva, and difficulty with antibody nonspecificity in the oxytocin detection assay, so most studies on OT levels should be treated with caution.

I've definitely noticed that I am very different from everybody I know in that there are so few people who I dislike. Even when I get mad at someone, it is very brief and I'm over it in a day or two at worst.

It perplexes me to hear other people talk about those who they intensely dislike or even hate.

Notices like that make me so happy! The "lack of empthy" myth is very hurtful, when in the reality it's the NT who sometimes lack empaty for us...

Thats really a good news because Oxytocin is a hormone produced by the hypothalamus that has affects both the body and the brain. It speeds up childbirth and also strengthens the relationship between a mother and her child.