This week’s field note is a continuation of the thread we’ve been exploring: cross-neurotype communication basics. You can find the first part here where we talked about cross-neurotype communication studies.
This week we’re zooming in on one of the most foundational (and frustrating) ideas in autism theory: Theory of Mind and the notion of Autistic “mindblindness.” This concept that Autistic people fundamentally lack the ability to understand others’ thoughts or feelings shaped decades of research and clinical assumptions.
And while it's been largely debunked, it still lingers in the backdrop.
So understanding that backdrop is helpful for undstanding why Dr. Damian Milton’s idea of The Double Empathy Problem was so impactful. It in many ways is a response to the theory of mind and other negative theories of autism that have been circulating for a long time. Instead of framing communication breakdowns as a deficit in Autistic people, it is a two way street, and the friction comes from
