Big emotions but little empathy

by Sacha
(Scotland)

Throughout my son's life he has always had deep emotions. He always seemed to feel things a lot more than others. He would get angry at injustices, cry when others cried and get over angry at what seemed to be little things.

Eventually at 14 he was diagnosed with dyspraxia and sensory processing issues. I also had him tested for ASD as I am convinced he is on that spectrum. The trainee psychologist disagreed as she says he shows a lot of empathy and is good socially. I tried to explain that he seems to have a lot of empathy but if you dig deeper he is actually just responding deeply to certain situations.

I know that is part of what empathy is but what he lacks is the ability to see the impact his actions have on others. For instance, when my dad died and I was upset he cried too. 10 minutes later he asked if his friend could have a sleepover followed by 'did grandad leave me any money?!'

He often does things that has no regard for others, to satisfy his own wants and needs, but at the same time he will over react to someone who is sad or needing help. It is all quite confusing. Has anyone else had these sort of issues?