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Double empathy problem

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The double empathy problem is a recent psychological theory proposing that social and communication difficulties present in people with autism are due to a reciprocal lack of understanding and bidirectional differences in communication style between autistic people and neurotypicals.[1][2][3] It challenges the widely accepted yet false notion that theory of mind and empathy are generally absent in autistic people.[4][5] Recent research suggests that higher rapport may be present in autistic interactions than in those consisting of both autistic and neurotypical people, and that autistic people may be able to understand and predict each other's thoughts and motivations better than neurotypicals.[6][7] On top of that, autistic empathy may be more all-encompassing and intense than neurotypical empathy as suggested in the observation that autistic people are more prone to object personification.[8][9] Autistic theory of mind is typically based on the use of rules and logic and may be modulated by differences in thinking.[10][11] If autistic people were inherently poor at social communication, an interaction between a pair of autistic people would logically be more of a struggle than one between an autistic and neurotypical person. This research is critical to combat misinformation and myths about autistic people common in the fields of psychology and psychiatry. Since autistic people rarely get to match neurotypes and socialize with other autistic people, they are seen in society as lacking in social ability.

It should be substantiated that neurotypicals also have a poor theory of mind for autistic people, in the same manner as autistic people have a poor theory of mind for neurotypicals. The assertion commonly made by neurotypicals that autistic people lack empathy is a lack of empathy in itself. Autistic people often experience bullying from neurotypicals and are rejected from neurotypical social groups immediately due to the way they present themselves despite masking, further supporting the theory of the double empathy problem.[12][13][14][15] This means autistic people communicate far better with other autistic people than with neurotypicals, and that interaction challenges observed in autistic people are a characteristic that is relational, depending upon the fit between the person and the social environment, rather than absolute.

References

  1. ^ Milton, Damian E.M. (October 2012). "On the ontological status of autism: the 'double empathy problem'". Disability & Society. 27 (6): 883–887. doi:10.1080/09687599.2012.710008. ISSN 0968-7599.
  2. ^ DeThorne, Laura S. (April 2020). "Revealing the Double Empathy Problem: It's not that autistic* people lack empathy. Rather, their different neurotypes and experiences may make it harder for nonautisic people to understand them—and vice versa". The ASHA Leader. 25 (3): 58–65. doi:10.1044/leader.FTR2.25042020.58. ISSN 1085-9586.
  3. ^ Bird, Geoffrey; Silani, Giorgia; Brindley, Rachel; White, Sarah; Frith, Uta; Singer, Tania (May 2010). "Empathic brain responses in insula are modulated by levels of alexithymia but not autism". Brain. 133 (5): 1515–1525. doi:10.1093/brain/awq060. ISSN 1460-2156. PMC 2859151. PMID 20371509.
  4. ^ Tavassoli, Teresa; Miller, Lucy Jane; Schoen, Sarah A.; Jo Brout, Jennifer; Sullivan, Jillian; Baron-Cohen, Simon (January 2018). "Sensory reactivity, empathizing and systemizing in autism spectrum conditions and sensory processing disorder". Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience. 29: 72–77. doi:10.1016/j.dcn.2017.05.005. PMC 6987900. PMID 28579480.
  5. ^ Smith, David Livingstone (2007). The most dangerous animal : human nature and the origins of war (1st ed ed.). New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978-0-312-34189-3. OCLC 123232321. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help)
  6. ^ Crompton, Catherine J.; Sharp, Martha; Axbey, Harriet; Fletcher-Watson, Sue; Flynn, Emma G.; Ropar, Danielle (2020-10-23). "Neurotype-Matching, but Not Being Autistic, Influences Self and Observer Ratings of Interpersonal Rapport". Frontiers in Psychology. 11: 586171. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.586171. ISSN 1664-1078. PMC 7645034. PMID 33192918.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link)
  7. ^ Chown, Nicholas (2014-11-26). "More on the ontological status of autism and double empathy". Disability & Society. 29 (10): 1672–1676. doi:10.1080/09687599.2014.949625. ISSN 0968-7599.
  8. ^ Fletcher-Watson, Sue; Bird, Geoffrey (January 2020). "Autism and empathy: What are the real links?". Autism. 24 (1): 3–6. doi:10.1177/1362361319883506. ISSN 1362-3613.
  9. ^ White, Rebekah C; Remington, Anna (May 2019). "Object personification in autism: This paper will be very sad if you don't read it". Autism. 23 (4): 1042–1045. doi:10.1177/1362361318793408. ISSN 1362-3613.
  10. ^ Bird, Geoffrey; Silani, Giorgia; Brindley, Rachel; White, Sarah; Frith, Uta; Singer, Tania (May 2010). "Empathic brain responses in insula are modulated by levels of alexithymia but not autism". Brain. 133 (5): 1515–1525. doi:10.1093/brain/awq060. ISSN 1460-2156. PMC 2859151. PMID 20371509.
  11. ^ Spikins, Penny; Wright, Barry; Hodgson, Derek (October 2016). "Are there alternative adaptive strategies to human pro-sociality? The role of collaborative morality in the emergence of personality variation and autistic traits". Time and Mind. 9 (4): 289–313. doi:10.1080/1751696X.2016.1244949. ISSN 1751-696X.
  12. ^ Sasson, Noah J.; Faso, Daniel J.; Nugent, Jack; Lovell, Sarah; Kennedy, Daniel P.; Grossman, Ruth B. (February 2017). "Neurotypical Peers are Less Willing to Interact with Those with Autism based on Thin Slice Judgments". Scientific Reports. 7 (1): 40700. doi:10.1038/srep40700. ISSN 2045-2322. PMC 5286449. PMID 28145411.
  13. ^ Dickter, Cheryl L.; Burk, Joshua A.; Zeman, Janice L.; Taylor, Sara C. (2020-06-01). "Implicit and Explicit Attitudes Toward Autistic Adults". Autism in Adulthood. 2 (2): 144–151. doi:10.1089/aut.2019.0023. ISSN 2573-9581.
  14. ^ Humphrey, Neil; Hebron, Judith (2015-08-03). "Bullying of children and adolescents with autism spectrum conditions: a 'state of the field' review". International Journal of Inclusive Education. 19 (8): 845–862. doi:10.1080/13603116.2014.981602. ISSN 1360-3116.
  15. ^ Stavropoulos, Katherine Kuhl-Meltzoff; Carver, Leslie J. (December 2018). "Oscillatory rhythm of reward: anticipation and processing of rewards in children with and without autism". Molecular Autism. 9 (1): 4. doi:10.1186/s13229-018-0189-5. ISSN 2040-2392.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link)
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