The double empathy problem

1 min read · April 11, 2026
New Power Labs

The Double Empathy Problem, first proposed by autistic researcher Damian Milton in 2012 and now increasingly supported by experimental research, reveals that communication difficulties between autistic and non-autistic people are mutual. Research suggests that non-autistic people are no more accurate at reading autistic behaviour, intentions, and emotions.

Yet in workplaces and professional settings, the onus often falls on autistic people to mask, a dynamic that research links to burnout, anxiety, and depression (Pryke-Hobbes et al., 2023).

A 2024 study found that non-autistic participants were significantly less accurate at reading emotions from autistic narrators than from non-autistic ones, particularly for happiness and sadness (Cheang et al., 2024). Meanwhile, autistic people communicate and build rapport with each other just as effectively as non-autistic people do among themselves (Crompton et al., 2020).

The double empathy problem reframes the question entirely: the gap may say more about who is doing the evaluating than who is being evaluated.

Narinder
New Power Labs

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