Michelle Dawson posts
Structured cited links
Pamela Heaton (2025). Autism, musicality, and empathy: Through the lens of first-person accounts. Research in Neurodiversity, 1, 100001. Elsevier BV.
Abstract
Over the past two decades, autism research has seen a gradual shift from deficit-focused theories to models informed by the neurodiversity paradigm. Theoretical developments such as the double empathy problem, Monotropism and Autistic Flow Theories offer nuanced, non-pathologizing understandings of autistic cognition, sociality, and engagement. Within this framework, music emerges as a compelling lens through which to examine autistic expriences. Empirical studies, based on first-person accounts, have shown how music facilitates emotional regulation, social connection, and personal development among autistic individuals. In highlighting the emotionally rich and socially meaningful dimensions of musical engagement this work challenges simplistic constructs of empathy and sociality in autism.
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