Double empathy - Emergent Divergence

Feb 16 2023

BBC’s “Inside our Autistic Minds” documentary has some awful resources online

To put this in context, you can visit the Open University web page where these resources are housed here.

Many people are talking about the BBC’s latest documentary on autism and finding it refreshingly validating. However, the resources that have been put up online by co-producers at the Open University are exceedingly outdated and missing key advances in knowledge of Autistic experience. It is clear that while the documentary itself may be okay, those behind it have learnt very little about the reality of Autistic experience.

The first thing you need to know is that the interactive documents take an obvious deficit based approach. This is evident in the theories they promote and the language used throughout. You can tell a lot about organisations from the way they talk about marginalised communities, and the OU are marking themselves as unsafe and ignorant. Using neurodiversity-affirming language and up-to-date theory is the minimum expectation one can place on an institution that provides degree level training to people who will work with Autistic individuals.

Being more focused, the most obvious issue that stands out to me is the references to Baron-Cohen’s now debunked theory of mind claims. They reference the claim that we struggle to understand the minds of others and understand their feelings as different to ours. This is largely baseless and incredibly harmful. Quoting Baron-Cohen on matters of Autistic experience is like quoting Freud in modern psychology; he is a relic of the past and has not ages well.

I would next like to discuss their claims that Autistic people struggle to communicate and follow social conventions. Even newcomers in the field of Autistic experience become aware of The Double Empathy problem exceptionally quickly. Rather than positioning us as having a deficit in social reciprocity, this theory demonstrates that the issue is one of experience. Autistic people have different cultural experiences to that of non-Autistic people, resulting in difficulties with communication on both sides. Unfortunately, due to the power imbalance in our society Autistic people are labelled as having a deficit and required to conform to non-Autistic communication.

It is not okay that the Open University are upholding this power imbalance.

My final note is that they espouse the view that cognitive behavioural therapy is the gold standard for the treatment of anxiety. Autistic people have been reporting for some time now that due to the double empathy problem and a lack of understanding of Autistic culture and experiences, CBT is more of an exercise in gaslighting than a beneficial treatment for what is a very reasonable response to systemic oppression.

These issues highlight to me the short-sightedness of so-called professionals and academics. You can make all of the wonderful documentaries that you like. If the resources you are sharing are harmful, then your allyship is performative at best.

Society has a long way to go in order to treat Autistic people equitably, but a good first step that will benefit everyone is to consult Autistic voices from diverse backgrounds on Autistic matters. We are not the ones with a deficit. Society is.

David Gray-Hammond 3 Comments

Jun 18 2022

The Zeno paradox of autism: Is this the root of the double empathy problem?

This was inspired by the book “Authoring Autism: On Rhetoric and Neurological Queerness” by Remi Yergeau.

The double empathy problem, so named, is the title given to the seeming appearance of deficits in communication in Autistic people. The double empathy problem states that Autistic people do not have a deficit in communication, but instead a different style of communication. Effectively, communication breaks down when attempting to communicate across neurocognitive styles. The different communicative styles do not combine well, and the predominant neurocognitive style oppresses the neurodivergent person by assuming a deficit.

Could this breakdown in communicative style arise from something called Zeno’s paradox?

Zeno’s paradox, more specifically, Zeno’s paradox of plurality, states that if two objects have the same attribute in common then we must assume them to be the same thing. In the same way, we can reverse this and say that if two similar objects have any difference, then we must assume them to be different things. Essentially, there is no such thing as the many, only the singular.

If we apply this to Autism and the double empathy problem, you can start to see where the problem arises. Non-Autistic people observe important differences between themselves and us as Autistic people. They then assume that we must be entirely different from themselves.

If Autistic people are assumed to be entirely different from non-Autistic people, then not only can we not have a commonality in the existence of our own culture, communities, minds, thoughts, feelings, and opinions, but essentially we can’t be people. This, I believe is where communication breaks down. Why we are assumed to have a communication deficit.

This paradox objectifies the Autistic person, and removes their agency. Therefore, why is it important to communicate on our level? Why learn our experiences and opinions? Does one listen to the opinions of a pencil? After all, if Autistics are reduced to an object, not part of the collective humanity due to our differences, then what can we possibly say that will be of importance to the human experience?

If we want to be listened to and heard, we need to escape Zeno’s paradox. We need to demonstrate our humanity. We need to demonstrate our personhood.

Until we succeed at such a cause, we will continue to be second-class citizens.

David Gray-Hammond 3 Comments

May 11 2022

Double empathy, solipsism, and neurotypicality

Why do interventions such as Applied Behavioural Analysis and Positive Behavioural Support exist? Why is it that our world uses neurotypicality as the standard from which neuronormativity is drawn?

Fundamentally, I believe that it comes down to the double empathy problem. Autistic people have a different style of communications to those with a predominant neurocognitive style in their culture. This creates a breakdown in communication, and due to the power imbalance in neuronormative culture, neurotypicality is considered superior, we are so often labelled as “disordered” or as having “deficits”.

But why is this happening? Where does this neuronormativity arise from?

I believe that to understand neuronormativity, we must first understand Solipsism. Solipsism is the belief that only the self and its experiences exist. A solipsist would believe that their experiences are the only experiences, essentially reducing others and their experiences to sub-human automations.

This is where I believe that neuronormativity arises from. A kind of strange solipsism.

In my opinion, while neurotypicals have been using ideas such as theory of mind to accuse Autistics of lacking the ability to know another’s mind, neurotypicals have been so unaware of the existence of neurodivergent experience that they will inflict pain on us to “help” us conform to their standards.

To put it another way, do most neurotypicals believe not only that their experience of the world is the “right” experience, but also the only experience of the world?

This means that when neurotypicals witness Autistic communication, they experience a kind of cognitive dissonance that results in their lashing out in the form of behavioural interventions, because they fully believe that the only way to exist is by the weird neuronormative standards that are enforced upon society.

What even is neurotypical?

That changes depending on the cultural environments, but in this sense it can be considered the predominant neurocognitive style in a given culture (Walker, 2021).

Neurotypicalilty is essentially a performance. It is a style of existing.

This effect has created a power imbalance wherein regardless of the number of neurotypicals in the room, they are still considered the gold-standard.

To me, it doesn’t seem like Autistic people are the ones needing an intervention.

David Gray-Hammond 1 Comments