Damian Milton’s INSAR 2026 Keynote — THINKING PERSON’S GUIDE TO AUTISM
If you are familiar with the empowering concept of the Double Empathy Problem—in which blaming autistic people for lacking empathy is reexamined and turned inside out—then you know that British sociologist and social psychologist Dr. Damian Milton came up with the concept in 2012. You know that the Double Empathy Problem (DEP) has resonated deeply throughout autism research. And you can, then, imagine the delight of attendees at the recent International Society for Autism Research meeting when Milton gave a keynote speech titled Bridging the Gap: Exploring the Current Empirical Evidence Relating to the Double Empathy Problem.
TPGA editors Shannon Rosa and Carol Greenburg were among those attendees, as was Brian Irvine from the Centre for Research in Autism and Education (CRAE), whose summary of Milton’s talk is fine-grained indeed. Below are our own talk highlights.
Milton used personal stories to illustrate his talk, rather than sticking purely research and theory. For instance, he was born into an “unusual family,” including people with a variety of disabilities. His own school reports detail his “disinclination to engage with his lessons.” His teachers claimed that, as a youth, Dr. Milton was “not very bright.” (A common experience for neurodivergent students whose support needs are neither identified nor understood.)
As an academic, Milton began making observations that would lead to his later work, such as “Where disorder begins is entirely down to social convention, and where one decides to draw the line across the spectrum.” He wrote this years ago, before he had any autism involvement, or knew of the concept of neurodiversity. He also fundamentally disagrees with Asperger’s idea about the autist[ic person] being “only himself,” and “not an active member of a greater organism.”
Milton started using the term “double empathy problem” in a parent group, because communication is a two-way process, and he wanted parents to understand that. This was he was diagnosed autistic himself in 2009, or had embarked upon his PhD, or his 2012 work on the Double Empathy Problem.
In noting his own neurodivergence, Milton states that “I may lack a social imagination, but I have a sociological one.” He was influenced by early autistic self-advocate Jim Sinclair, who in 1993 wrote: “Recognize that we are equally alien to each other, and my ways of being are not merely damaged versions of yours.” Sinclair introduced Milton to Autistic Network International, which is an autistic-run self-help and advocacy organization for autistic people, and to other autistic forums. It is interesting that after Milton got his own autism diagnosis, an increasing number of colleagues also started approaching him about potentially being neurodivergent.
He talked about how hard it is to be an autistic 10 year old experiencing mutual incomprehension with their non-autistic peers: “95% of people don’t understand me, adults won’t stop bullying me,” etc. This is because the breakdown between autistic and non-autistic is due not only the autistic person, but differing perspectives in trying to understand each other.
Milton initially defined the DEP as “a disjuncture between two differently disposed social actors which becomes more marked, the wider the disjunction in disposition perceptions of the lifeworld, perceived as a breach in the ‘natural attitude’ of what constitutes their ‘social reality.’” The Double Empathy problem can thus happen between any two people, however it tends to be much more marked when autistic people interact with non-autistics.
Autistic people have distinct interest and abilities that involve social practices, and this includes those who are deemed “non-verbal”—who are often musical or artistic, and whose bodily movements have been argued to be a form of language, per Mel Baggs. It is suggested that at least some of the double empathy problem is cultural in nature, and can be lessened.
At the moment, non-autistic people have trouble interpreting autistic communication, and form bad first impressions of autistics compared to non-autistics. Noah Sasson‘s research shows that autistic people tend to overestimate how positively other people would perceive them. Which is impressive, given how relentlessly autistic people experience negative social feedback (bullying, exclusion, etc.).
(On Bluesky, Jillian @nogoodwyfe.bsky.social reacted, “ADHD ppl do this toooooo and I love all of us for this! I’ve seen it framed as poor self-assessment but idk, I think some of it is a near-miraculous ability to see your own positive potential despite constant negative feedback and refusals to engage or trust you. It’s resiliency.”)
Also, when researchers investigated misunderstandings between autistic people and non-autistic family members, the family members blamed the autistic person, whereas the autistic participant reflected on both themselves and the other family member. (And yet it is the autistic person who supposedly has no empathy…)
Researchers observe that autistic people appear to have a greater affinity with other autistic people than non-autistic people generally do, and show fewer signs of ‘social impairment’ in their own group. Not always, but more often. And as Desi Jones’s research shows, mixed autistic/non-autistic interactions tend to have the most misunderstandings.
Interestingly, the Double Empathy Problem is now expanding into and influencing other arenas, for instance dementia care.
In 2024, first major critique of Double Empathy Problem was published, arguing that it is poorly conceptualized and lacks data. Milton’s response is that the DEP originated in sociological theory, not psychological science. And also yes, sure, more refining needs to be done.
Milton is not a fan of the term “profound autism,” as it doesn’t really add much to the description of his high support adult autistic son’s needs, and also it could cause difficulties because the categories will never be neat; people will always fall outside and inside them, not cleanly. And what does “level 1” autism tell you about someone anyhow? Nothing. His own children’s support needs are varied and fall all over the place. Instead of “profound autism” and subcategories, we need personalized, individual evaluations to meaningfully help autistics. Socially, family, all of it.
During the Q&A after his talk, Milton was asked by an audience member if he would wave a “magic wand” to make his own life and his family’s life easier. Sigh. (I personally am VERY TIRED of this question.) Milton replied that he doesn’t want to change his high support son because he loves spending time with him, and it is one of his most fulfilling relationships.
He ended by stating that to combat double empathy problem fallout for autistics, we need collaboration. Autistic people themselves need to be setting the agenda, and we need more cooperative efforts like the Participatory Autism Research Collective he helped found.
Carol Greenburg and Damian Milton at INSAR 2026
