Published on 12, July, 2020
"Autistic people often experience difficulties with social communication. It’s so common, in fact, that it’s one of the central criteria for an autism diagnosis.
For as long as we have been diagnosing autism, doctors and researchers have regarded social communication difficulties as autistic “impairments”. But in more recent years, research has begun to show that – just like autistic people have been saying for a long time – communication breakdowns go both ways.
In other words, neurotypical people can have just as much difficulty understanding autistic people as the other way round. This is now sometimes referred to as “the double empathy problem”.
In my new book, Understanding Others in a Neurodiverse World, I draw on linguistics, the study of language, to look at the double empathy problem a little more closely. And I consider how autistic and non-autistic people can better communicate with each other."
theconversation.com/how-autistic-and-non-autistic-people-can-understand-each-other-better-234320
firemonkey said: neurotypical people can have just as much difficulty understanding autistic people as the other way round.
The author mentions autists then switch to a label of neurotypical - asuming this was not intentional (my experience with ADHD and bipolar people has shown they do not have the same level of social issues as autists) then the subject of the book is effectively expecting the 98% of the population who are non-autistic to adapt to the 2% who are.
To put it in context, if there were a group of 100 people there would, on average, be 2 autists in there. Each one would most likely struggle to comminicate with the group in the same way of the others and would probably also struggle to communicate with the other autist.
Even reducing this to 50 people per autist, is it fair to expect all 49 of them to make adaptations because of the 1 autist?
I'm not suggesting that they should do nothing, just highlighting the scale of the situation we find ourselves in.
How would you redress the balance? Would you even want to?
Just trying to get the discussion going
It seems as a society we are far more willing to make life easier for those with physical difficulties , than we are for those who have a mental illness and/or a neurodevelopmental disorder.
It's the same for any "hidden" disabilities, I have osteoarthritis, nobody can see that I have it, but I do need to sit down more often, rest more often and I can't do things people without it can do, but I'm still challenged by people because I don't look like there's anything wrong with me.
I think people in general need to be a bit more compassionate and start from a position of believing someone when they say they have a disability, I know there are some who game the system, I'd love to know how as I and many others have enough problems getting what the law says we're allowed.
It's odd how we have more and more ways to comuniate with each other and yet we don't comprehend each other and don't seem to want too. It's like we communicate more and understand less. Although another things I've noticed is people speaking in text speak, like saying 'deffo' instead of definately, it's confusing especially if you can't hear the person well, then there's all sorts of unintended mix up's.
I don't get challenged that much anymore, because like you I don't see many people. I have been challenged when sitting on a bus and somebody who's older than me is standing. I find restaurant seats extremely uncomfortable I can sit in one for a 15-20 mins before it starts to hurt and after about 45 mins, my back starts to into spasm. People think I'm being weird and rude because even when they've found somewhere with things that I can eat, I still can't sit through a three course meal and be social.
TheCatWoman said:It's the same for any "hidden" disabilities, I have osteoarthritis, nobody can see that I have it, but I do need to sit down more often, rest more often and I can't do things people without it can do, but I'm still challenged by people because I don't look like there's anything wrong with me
Fair and good point. I have RA and premature osteoporosis. It restricts how long I can be upright before pain rears its ugly head. Unlike you I don't get challenged. Purely because I don't interact with enough people to get challenged.