Autism and the double empathy problem: Implications for development and mental health

How a mismatch compounds over years: the majority's misreadings shape isolation, with costs to mental health and to everyone else.

Mitchell, P., Sheppard, E. & Cassidy, S. (2021). Autism and the double empathy problem: Implications for development and mental health. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 39(1), 1–18.

Type

Journal article

Find it

doi.org/10.1111/bjdp.12350

Checked

Against the abstract, 15 September 2026

Why it is on the list

Mitchell, Sheppard and Cassidy propose a developmental account in which the majority’s misperceptions, and what people do because of them, push autistic people towards isolation over time. The cost lands on their mental health and on a society that loses what they would have contributed. Week 11 cites it for why interoperation is worth the effort from the majority’s side too.