Today’s episode explores the dynamics of autistic social communication, drawing from a review of a 2025 study by Sutherland and colleagues. The author of the source article, Dr. Jaime Hoerricks, highlights that autistic individuals communicate effectively with each other, a fact long understood within the autistic community but only recently documented academically. Dr. Hoerricks examines five key themes: autistic attention and self, which differs from neurotypical norms; expectations about social norms, emphasising that current communication standards often exclude autistic styles; conflict arising from neurotypical expectations that disrupt autistic interactions; the personal cost of masking and compensation for perceived social deficits; and finally, the creation of shared understandings and effortless connection within autistic-to-autistic interactions. Ultimately, she argues that communication issues stem from a mismatch in recognition, not a deficit in autistic individuals, advocating for the validation of diverse communication styles.
Here’s the link to the source article: https://open.substack.com/pub/autside/p/what-happens-when-no-ones-watching
Let me know what you think.
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