Is it normal for someone with autism to lack feelings?
I realize I do not have very good emotional comprehension so correct me if I'm wrong about my descriptions of emotions vs. feelings.
From what I understand of the difference I do seem to have emotions but not feelings.
I would describe emotions more as thoughts such as disappointment when something goes wrong, wishing for good things to happen, having negative thoughts when someone I like dies, laughing at jokes or reacting hostile during conflict or when I am distracted from what I am doing.
I would describe feelings as what people describe as physical reactions to thoughts as well as sensitivities towards social situations.
An example of this is when somebody says "my feelings hurt" (which has always confused me), as well as reflecting someone else's emotions or responding to emotions with illogical thoughts such as worrying about something stupid or dwelling on something that already happened.
I also seem to have no emotional memory. Soon as I'm done with it I forget what it was even like.
I mention my autism diagnosis because I wonder if this is a symptom of that and there seems to be a higher than average population of people with autistic spectrum disorders here.
Either way this is a positive trait that I don't have to deal with this, but it does add to my difficulty understanding other people and why they are so difficult to deal with.