If she was so attentive to detail . . . .

i wonder if her attention to detail had to do with inanimate objects and animals, but she had issues relating to humans

"then why couldn't she notice that others would get uncomfortable when she talked about;"

One of the traits of Aspergers is a demonsrated lack of empathy. Sometimes people with Aspergers will do this. They'll go on and on about something without understanding that other people aren't interested.



"We do not inheret the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children"

It might take years to be habilitated to be able to read facial expressions, depending on the person. I'm on the spectrum and I have trouble with it. For people I know, I keep a mental database on each person and match the expressions I catch with my memory of their past behavoir and dialog. Some people are sarcastic and some talk indirectly. I mix that with context.

For people I don't know, it's a new situation and everyone is different. I'm not able to quickly relate new sitiations with past experience. It's a spectrum thing. It's like their faces are mannequins. Even for common expressions, they are so subtle that it's easy to miss.

Imagine you are watching someone use sign language. They speak so fast, the details (movements for each word and letter) are easy to miss. The common ones might stick, but the little ones will be lost. If no one has taught you what the words are, then no amount of watching someone sign will ever teach you how to read it.

Temple has Autism. It is a neurological disorder causing various degrees of impairment in processing and recognizing nonverbal cues, among other things. It is impossible to realize that someone is "uncomfortable" if you cannot recognize the facial and other nonverbal cues associated with the concept of "uncomfortable." People with Autism do not choose to ignore these things, they do not recognize that they are there in the first place. Temple has excelled in learning from her "mistakes," but she will never be completely typical.

Those without Autism process nonverbal cues and generalize them- oh, this facial expression and body posture means that I made this person uncomfortable. If I say this in front of other people, they will be uncomfortable, too. People with Autism struggle to recognize the facial expression, and also struggle to generalize it to other people.

I have Asperger's, a "cousin" on the Autism Spectrum, and as much as I struggle, find myself talking about things that no one else cares for or struggling in a loud environment, go into an internal panic attack after I've been in too many social interactions, etc., it's nothing compared to what Temple goes through. She is a hero in our community and Claire was exceptional.

BTW, I know this is nitpicky, but negative reinforcement is not a bad thing:) It's when someone takes away something you DON'T want, which is rewarding. Think of when someone thanked you for a good job and offered to let you out of a chore.

Wow, the OP minored in psychology and has no idea of what autism is? Doesn't say much for the college.

http://thinkingoutloud-descartes.blogspot.com/

As someone who is on-spectrum, I find that I can read expressions and behavior very well. I just don't care and I can't copy them. I didn't learn to "smile for the camera" until I was in my late teens. Even now, I'll think that I'm smiling and look in the mirror only to find that my face is completely neutral. My fake smile looks really insincere. I can do a good customer service voice though.

As to "where did it go" that makes total sense. She's wondering why people are so sad and looking at the body. It's gone, and what's done is done. I have a lot of trouble consoling people about death. I always console people when they or their loved ones are sick, but, if they're dead, they are gone. That's all. Why mourn a piece of meat.

Before I took my dog in to be put down a month or so ago, I gave him a funeral including a homily. I blessed him, and read from Revelation 21:4 while we were still at home. I held him and made the Vet wait until he was calm and no longer shaking, and I scratched his neck just the way he liked it until the medicine took his life. The second I felt his life go, I just told the Vet, "He's gone" and walked away. I felt no more emotion or connection to his body. He was just a vessel, and the vessel was empty.

That's what it is showing. It's showing respect for the living. If you have to kill an animal, at least it should go easy.