Laughing at a Dead Dog

An autistic science journalist investigates empathy tests, nervous laughter and the damaging myth that autism means not caring.What does it mean to be told you have almost no empathy - when your life has been shaped by feeling too much?At sixty, Sue Nelson received an autism diagnosis that redefined her past: the sensory overload; relentless masking; social misunderstandings; anxiety; and involuntary laughter at news of a dog's death. Then came a devastating assessment reducing her empathy to a score of six out of eighty.In Laughing at a Dead Dog, Nelson investigates the science, history and human cost of the autistic 'empathy deficit' myth. Drawing on her own life, interviews with autistic people, clinicians, neuroscientists and advocates, she challenges stereotypes and asks what empathy tests actually measure - and what they miss. She explores alexithymia, stimming, gender bias, genetic research and the startling possibility of hyper-empathy.She also considers the practical cost of being misunderstood: shame after diagnosis; burnout; difficulties in healthcare; and the pressure to perform social behaviour in the 'right' way.Clear-eyed, moving and very funny, this is essential reading for anyone navigating adult diagnosis or seeking a more humane account of neurodivergence.