Double Empathy: Why Autistic People Are Often Misunderstood

This publication is included in the Autistic Autism Scholarship Project. two authors of this publication are identified as autistic in the project.

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Crompton, C. J., DeBrabander, K. M., Heasman, B., Milton, D., & Sasson, N. (2021). Double Empathy: Why Autistic People Are Often Misunderstood. Frontiers for Young Minds, 9. https://doi.org/10.3389/frym.2021.554875

Publication date: 11 May 2021 Added to AutiHub: 6 Jul 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
Publisher source (DOI) Full text OpenAlex source

This publication is integrated into AutiHub through:

Authors

Publication authors
5
Publication authors identified as autistic
2 / 5 (40.0%)
  1. Catherine J. Crompton
  2. Kilee M. DeBrabander
  3. Brett Heasman *
  4. Damian Milton *
  5. Noah Sasson

Abstract

Autism affects how someone makes sense of the world around them. About 1–2% of people are autistic. You might have an autistic classmate or family member, or maybe you are autistic. Autistic people might communicate differently than people who are not autistic. This means that it can be difficult for other people to understand what autistic people are trying to say or what they mean. We tend to think that people who are not autistic might be more successful at understanding other people, but in fact, autistic people may be better understood by other autistic people. We will examine and explain some research that has explored how autistic and non-autistic people communicate with each other and explore how this research fits with a theory called the double empathy problem. Understanding what makes interaction comfortable and easy for different people can help us all understand each other better.

Bibliography cited by this reference

Cited references are imported from external metadata sources when they are available. The list may be partial.

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: 2 Oct 2026 11:55.

Cited references
9
With a DOI
9
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
0
5 / 9 (55.6%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
0 / 9 (0.0%)
References with detected author names
9 / 9 (100.0%)
Without detected author names
0
Without a structured title
0
Without a stable identifier
0
References with raw author names still to review
0
References with external metadata lookup issues
0
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
38
From DOI or external metadata
38
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
0
26 / 38 (68.4%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 12 / 38 (31.6%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
6 / 38 (15.8%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 6 / 26 (23.1%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 4 / 24 (16.7%).
  1. Noah Sasson , Daniel J. Faso , Jack Nugent , Sarah Lovell , Daniel P. Kennedy , Ruth B. Grossman (2017). Neurotypical Peers are Less Willing to Interact with Those with Autism based on Thin Slice Judgments . Scientific Reports, 7(1), 40700. Springer Science and Business Media LLC.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1038/srep40700 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2585989266
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  2. Damian Milton * , Brett Heasman * , Elizabeth Sheppard (2020). Double Empathy . In Encyclopedia of Autism Spectrum Disorders (pp. 1-9). Springer New York.
    Type: Book chapter DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4614-6435-8_102273-2 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W4248155414
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  3. Brett Heasman * , Alex Gillespie (2018). Perspective-taking is two-sided: Misunderstandings between people with Asperger’s syndrome and their family members . Autism, 22(6), 740-750. SAGE Publications.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1177/1362361317708287 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2727105378
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  4. Rabi Samil Alkhaldi , Elizabeth Sheppard , Peter Mitchell (2019). Is There a Link Between Autistic People Being Perceived Unfavorably and Having a Mind That Is Difficult to Read? Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 49(10), 3973-3982. Springer Science and Business Media LLC.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1007/s10803-019-04101-1 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2949760813
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  5. Kerrianne E Morrison , Kilee M. DeBrabander , Desiree R Jones , Daniel J Faso , Robert A. Ackerman , Noah Sasson (2020). Outcomes of real-world social interaction for autistic adults paired with autistic compared to typically developing partners . Autism, 24(5), 1067-1080. SAGE Publications.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1177/1362361319892701 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2996531634
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  7. Kilee M. DeBrabander , Kerrianne E. Morrison , Desiree R Jones , Daniel J. Faso , Mike Chmielewski , Noah Sasson (2019). Do First Impressions of Autistic Adults Differ Between Autistic and Nonautistic Observers? Autism in Adulthood, 1(4), 250-257. SAGE Publications.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1089/aut.2019.0018 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2969930798
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations