Discover what’s possible when empathy is a two-way street.

Have you ever struggled to empathize with someone who experiences the world very differently from you? Maybe because you don’t share an interest, or even a first language with them?

If so, you’ll want to listen to this episode, which is part 2 of my conversation with Brian Middleton. He talks about how a lack of mutual understanding between autistic and non-autistic people can lead to breakdowns in communication.

Brian Middleton is an Autistic Self-Advocate, a Board Certified Behavior Analyst, and the creator of the Bearded Behaviorist, an initiative dedicated to the dissemination of behavior science and the inclusion of trauma-informed care standards in applied behavior analysis and other human services.

This conversation was part of a special event for our community or SkillCorps volunteers. Other participants include Danielle Terrell, Tara Hannan-Bruecken, Shannon Haynes, Marianne Spiotta, Hailee Perez, and Christina Cairoli.

In this conversation, among other things, we discuss:

• The Double Empathy Problem
• The unfair expectation for autistic people to adapt to non-autistic communication
• How Brian created an adventure room for his students to take a break and feel safe
• Where the terms “neurodiversity” and “neurotypical” originated
• Neurodiversity-affirming as an attitudinal approach
• Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

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Do you know anyone else who might benefit from this episode? Maybe a non-autistic person looking for better ways to communicate with their autistic loved one? We encourage you to share this episode if you’d like to help them out. By doing so, you’ll also be helping us to improve access to autism services around the world.

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