Trauma Crushes Kind Hearts

Many of the neurodivergent people I meet have the most empathetic hearts imaginable. Yet, they can struggle to stay that way or to share it, because they’ve been hurt for being so warm. They’ve even been made fun of for caring so much. "Nothing hurts a good soul and kind heart more than to live amongst people who can't understand it" was said by Ali ibn Abi Talib back near 600 CE, yet it still rings true today. It is so true that the diagnostic criteria for autism includes having difficulty empathizing, while most of the autistic people I know voice the opposite, that they feel like they care too much. Perhaps that “difficulty with empathy” trait, that is so profoundly noticed amongst the autistic community, is actually a widespread result of the trauma of living in a world that crushes such kind and loving souls?

"Nothing hurts a good soul and kind heart more than to live amongst people who can't understand it."

~ Ali ibn Abi Talib