Double empathy
The double empathy problem describes a mutual gap in understanding between autistic and non-autistic people, rejecting the idea that communication breakdowns stem from autistic “deficits” alone. Coined by Damian Milton, this concept affirms that empathy is relational, not one-sided—that neurotypical frameworks often dominate interpretations of social success while failing to account for the legitimacy of autistic ways of knowing, expressing, and connecting. Rather than blaming autistic individuals for misreading others, the double empathy lens reveals that non-autistic people frequently misinterpret autistic communication, miss emotional nuance, or pathologise difference as dysfunction. This tag connects content exploring communication across neurotypes, reframing social conflict, and valuing autistic relational styles on their own terms.
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A perspective taking primer for educators
Perspective taking is the disciplined art of stepping outside one’s own cognitive scaffolding and entering, as fully as possible, into the sensorium of another person. It is not sympathy, which radiates concern from a safe emotional distance, nor is it projection, which mistakes one’s own feelings for universal truth. Instead, it is an intentional, methodical…