On the ontological status of autism: the ‘double empathy problem’

The short paper that coined the double empathy problem: a misunderstanding between two people has two sides.

Milton, D. E. M. (2012). On the ontological status of autism: the ‘double empathy problem’. Disability & Society, 27(6), 883–887.

Type

Journal article

Find it

doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2012.710008

Checked

Against the abstract, 15 September 2026

Why it is on the list

Milton reframes difficulties between autistic and non-autistic people as a question of reciprocity and mutuality, not a capacity one party lacks. The idea carries through the later weeks. Read it alongside week 11’s studies of information transfer, judgements and rapport. Those studies address different parts of the problem; they do not test every implication of the theory or the course’s bilateral protocol.