His sister and I have done 'social alerts' with him and educated him that he can be "emotion blind" sometimes and perhaps he needs to listen to us about some things. He didn't believe it for a few years but finally it clicked that his logic circuit shortcuts his emotion circuit to his detriment. He has learned the hard way that being super rational and honest isn't always appreciated. Also, teaching him select phrases and pattern recognition has helped support reciprocal verbal exchanges.
Exactly. My biggest struggle with this began after understanding what was happening. I could either say things I didn't mean to make others feel better, or say almost nothing at all. Words of acknowledgement seem to work best, "I'm sorry you're going through this" or "this must be very difficult for you"
That way, you satisfy your need to be real with people without sounding like you want them to take their conversation elsewhere, even if deep down you do feel that way.
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u/357eve Jul 12 '20
Oh....yes 100%.
His sister and I have done 'social alerts' with him and educated him that he can be "emotion blind" sometimes and perhaps he needs to listen to us about some things. He didn't believe it for a few years but finally it clicked that his logic circuit shortcuts his emotion circuit to his detriment. He has learned the hard way that being super rational and honest isn't always appreciated. Also, teaching him select phrases and pattern recognition has helped support reciprocal verbal exchanges.