Autistic expertise: A critical reflection on the production of knowledge in autism studies

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Milton, D. (2014). Autistic expertise: A critical reflection on the production of knowledge in autism studies. Autism, 18(7), 794-802. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362361314525281

Publication date: 17 Mar 2014 Added to AutiHub: 6 Jul 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
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Authors

Publication authors
1
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 1 (100.0%)
  1. Damian Milton *

Abstract

The field of autism studies is a highly disputed territory within which competing contradictory discourses abound. In this field, it is the voices and claims of autistic people regarding their own expertise in knowledge production concerning autism that is most recent in the debate, and traditionally the least attended to. In this article, I utilise the theories of Harry Collins and colleagues in order to reflect upon and conceptualise the various claims to knowledge production and expertise within the field of autism studies, from the perspective of an author who has been diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum. The notion that autistic people lack sociality is problematised, with the suggestion that autistic people are not well described by notions such as the 'social brain', or as possessing 'zero degrees of cognitive empathy'. I then argue, however, that there is a qualitative difference in autistic sociality, and question to what extent such differences are of a biological or cultural nature, and to what extent interactional expertise can be gained by both parties in interactions between autistic and non-autistic people. In conclusion, I argue that autistic people have often become distrustful of researchers and their aims, and are frequently frozen out of the processes of knowledge production. Such a context results in a negative feedback spiral with further damage to the growth of interactional expertise between researchers and autistic people, and a breakdown in trust and communication leading to an increase in tension between stakeholder groups. The involvement of autistic scholars in research and improvements in participatory methods can thus be seen as a requirement, if social research in the field of autism is to claim ethical and epistemological integrity.

Bibliography cited by this reference

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

Bibliography inclusion overview

These indicators describe the cited bibliography imported for this publication. Cited-reference metrics use the cited-reference total as denominator. Cited-author metrics state whether they use all cited-author occurrences or only occurrences linked to authors already integrated in the AutiHub database. They use cached links between cited authors and authors integrated in the AutiHub database. Last computed: 16 Aug 2026 11:31.

Cited references
64
Total cited references integrated for this publication.
Cited references with an identified autistic author
15 / 64 (23.4%)
Cited author occurrences identified as autistic
17 / 84 (20.2%)
Among occurrences linked to AutiHub author records: 17 / 28 (60.7%). Distinct cited authors identified as autistic: 7 / 59 (11.9%).
Cited author occurrences linked to AutiHub author records
28 / 84 (33.3%)
Distinct linked cited authors: 15 / 59 (25.4%)
Linked cited-author occurrences not identified as autistic
11 / 28 (39.3%)
Among linked cited-author occurrences only. Across all cited-author occurrences: 11 / 84 (13.1%). Distinct linked cited authors not identified as autistic: 8 / 15 (53.3%).
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