Today’s episode discusses gestalt processing in autistic individuals, describing it as a primary mode of perception that registers the emotional atmosphere or “field” of a situation before verbal content. The author of the source article, Dr. Jaime Hoerricks, explains how this atmospheric attunement allows Gestalt Language Processors (GLPs) to instantly sense danger, like the presence of a narcissist or manipulator, who exploit the GLP’s drive for coherence by creating unsettling environments that are subtly inconsistent. Dr. Hoerricks reframes the “Double Empathy Problem” to suggest that harm arises because GLPs read the full, discordant reality of a situation too honestly, only to be gaslighted by neurotypical (NT) social systems that prioritise ambiguity and performance over truth. Ultimately, she advocates for epistemic justice and encourages GLPs to trust their instinctual, embodied literacy of atmosphere as the most critical form of self-protection.

Here’s the link to the source article: https://open.substack.com/pub/autside/p/when-gestalts-meet-manipulators-the

Let me know what you think.

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