“You have to unlearn your way of communicating and speak on their patterns”: Special school practitioner perceptions of autistic interests and addressing the ‘double empathy problem’

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Brooker, J. & Jenks, E. (2026). “You have to unlearn your way of communicating and speak on their patterns”: Special school practitioner perceptions of autistic interests and addressing the ‘double empathy problem’. Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs, 26(3). https://doi.org/10.1111/1471-3802.70108

Publication date: 20 May 2026 Added to AutiHub: 17 Sep 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
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Authors

Publication authors
2
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 2 (50.0%)
  1. Joe Brooker
  2. Emma Jenks *

Abstract

Abstract Autistic people frequently have strong, compelling interests, a characteristic reflected in diagnostic criteria and framed differently across the literature in terms of its positive or negative impact. From a neurodiversity‐affirming perspective, there is a need to better understand, nurture and support all forms of autistic interests in education and beyond. Within this perspective, understanding and accommodating differences in autistic communication is also imperative, as highlighted by the ‘double empathy problem’ theory. This interpretivist study involved semi‐structured interviews with 12 special school practitioners, totalling 83 years of experience, to explore their perceptions of strong interests and approaches to supporting cross‐neurotype communication. Reflexive thematic analysis identified a range of perceived benefits (e.g., enhanced well‐being and social connection), alongside constraints (e.g., limiting progression in other areas) of strong interests. Notably, sensory‐related interests, which are underexplored and sometimes positioned as developmental barriers, were linked with meaningful benefits. Findings also highlight the mediating role of practitioner understanding, responsiveness and approaches in shaping the beneficial or constraining aspects of strong interests and communication. The study emphasises the importance of adopting a neurodiversity‐affirming stance towards autistic cognition and communication, outlining practical strategies and future research directions.

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Cited bibliography overview

These indicators describe the bibliography cited by this publication. An author name is counted each time it appears in one cited reference, so the same person can be counted more than once. Names not yet linked to an author already present in AutiHub are treated as unknown, not as non-autistic. Last computed: 20 Sep 2026 01:01.

Cited references
109
With a DOI
86
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
23
20 / 109 (18.3%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
11 / 109 (10.1%)
References with detected author names
98 / 109 (89.9%)
Without detected author names
11
Without a structured title
11
Without a stable identifier
23
References with raw author names still to review
7
References with external metadata lookup issues
2
These indicators apply to cited references displayed on this page, after technical duplicates have been merged. A reference without a DOI can still support author statistics when a title and author names are available.
Author names detected in the cited bibliography
286
From DOI or external metadata
286
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
7
128 / 286 (44.8%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 158 / 286 (55.2%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
37 / 286 (12.9%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 37 / 128 (28.9%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 31 / 258 (12.0%).
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