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

This publication is included in the Autistic Autism Scholarship Project. one author of this publication is identified as autistic in the project.

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Milton, D. (2012). On the ontological status of autism: the ‘double empathy problem’. Disability & Society, 27(6), 883-887. https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2012.710008

Journal or book title
Disability & Society
Publisher
Informa UK Limited
Volume
27
Issue
6
Pages
883-887
Publication date: 16 Aug 2012 Added to AutiHub: 6 Jul 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
Publisher source (DOI) OpenAlex source

This publication is integrated into AutiHub through:

Authors

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

Abstract

In recent decades there has been much debate over the ontological status of autism and other neurological ‘disorders’, diagnosed by behavioural indicators, and theorised primarily within the field of cognitive neuroscience and psychological paradigms. Such cognitive-behavioural discourses abstain from acknowledging the universal issue of relationality and interaction in the formation of a contested and constantly reconstructed social reality, produced through the agency of its ‘actors’. The nature of these contested interactions will be explored in this current issues piece through the use of the term the ‘double empathy problem’, and how such a rendition produces a critique of autism being defined as a deficit in ‘theory of mind’, re-framing such issues as a question of reciprocity and mutuality. In keeping with other autistic self-advocates, this piece will refer to ‘autistic people’, and ‘those who identify as on the autism spectrum’, rather than ‘people with autism’.

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 01:00.

Cited references
15
With a DOI
3
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
10
2 / 15 (13.3%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
8 / 15 (53.3%)
References with detected author names
7 / 15 (46.7%)
Without detected author names
8
Without a structured title
8
Without a stable identifier
10
References with raw author names still to review
8
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
9
From DOI or external metadata
9
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
10
2 / 9 (22.2%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 7 / 9 (77.8%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
2 / 9 (22.2%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 2 / 2 (100.0%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 2 / 9 (22.2%).
  1. Henri Tajfel , John Turner (2000). An Integrative Theory of Intergroup Conflict . In Organizational Identity (pp. 56-65). Oxford University PressOxford.
    Type: Book chapter DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780199269464.003.0005 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W90970949
    OpenAlex
  2. Becker H. (1963). Outsiders . Outsiders.
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  3. Ian Hacking (2009). Autistic autobiography . Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 364(1522), 1467-1473. The Royal Society.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2008.0329 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W4244526978
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  4. Damian Milton * (2013). ‘Filling in the Gaps’: A Micro-Sociological Analysis of Autism . Autonomy, the Critical Journal of Interdisciplinary Autism Studies, 1(2), 1.
    Type: Article OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W1520062856
    OpenAlex
  5. (n.d.). Garfinkel, H. 1967. Studies in ethnomethodology. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  7. Anthony F. C. Wallace , Harold Garfinkel (1968). Studies in Ethnomethodology. American Sociological Review, 33(1), 124. SAGE Publications.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.2307/2092245 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2024642405
    OpenAlex
  8. (n.d.). Mallet, R. 2011. Buying new normals? When impairment categories become commodities. Paper presented at the Theorising Normalcy and the Mundane 2nd International Conference, September 14201315, in Manchester Metropolitan University, UK.
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  9. (n.d.). Milton, D. 2011a. ‘Who am I meant to be’: In search of a psychological model of autism from the viewpoint of an ‘insider’. Paper presented at the Critical Autism Seminar, January 18, in Sheffield Hallam University, UK.
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  10. (n.d.). Milton, D. 2011b. ‘Filling in the gaps’, a micro-sociological analysis of autism. Paper presented at the Theorising Normalcy and the Mundane 2nd International Conference, September 14–15, in Manchester Metropolitan University, UK.
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  11. (n.d.). Milton, D. and Lm. 2012. ‘They judge me on the bit they can see …’: How normative practices have led to the psycho-emotional disablement of autistic people. Critical Disability Discoursein review.
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  12. (n.d.). Plato. 1973. Phaedrus and Letters VII and VIII. Trans. W. Hamilton. London: Penguin.
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  13. (n.d.). Reeve, D. 2011. Ableism within disability studies: The myth of the reliable and contained body. Paper presented at the Theorising Normalcy and the Mundane 2nd International Conference, September 14-15, in Manchester Metropolitan University, UK.
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  14. Said E. (1978). Orientalism . Orientalism.
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  15. (n.d.). Tajfel, H., and J. Turner. 1979. An integrative theory of intergroup conflict. InCritical readings in social psychology, ed. D. Langbridge and S. Taylor, 136–147. Milton Keynes: Open University.
    Type: Other
    Crossref