First described by Dr. Damian Milton, the Double Empathy Problem suggests that misunderstandings between Autistic and non-Autistic (allistic) people arise from differences in communication and lived experience, rather than from a lack of empathy.

Milton argued that when people come from different neurological worlds, their ways of sensing, relating, and expressing can diverge enough that both may struggle to understand the other’s perspective.

Because dominant culture often frames Autistic ways of being as the problem, the Double Empathy framework reframes social difficulty as relational. Both sides can encounter barriers, and both are capable of understanding when there is reciprocal space, recognition, and shared language.

In practice, this shifts the focus away from fixing Autistic communication. What matters more is creating environments where different neurotypes can meet with space and clarity, guided by curiosity, mutual adaptation, and neurological humility — without assuming one way of processing is superior.