The Double Empathy Problem

The double empathy problem is a concept proposed by autistic researcher Damian Milton (2012), which holds that communication and understanding difficulties between autistic and non-autistic people are bidirectional — not a one-sided deficit in the autistic person, but a mutual mismatch in social processing and communication styles.

Later studies support this view: autistic people communicate more effectively with other autistic people than with non-autistic people. Non-autistic people have similar difficulty understanding autistic perspectives and behavior. The difficulty in "reading" one another goes both ways — but has historically been attributed solely to the autistic person.

This perspective has important implications: interventions should focus on facilitating mutual understanding, not just on making the autistic person adapt to neurotypical norms. It also challenges the assumption that neurotypical communication style is the correct default that autistic people must conform to.