The meaning of the double empathy problem

Today, I’m writing about the meaning of the double empathy problem (DEP).  What is it, exactly?
When Damian Milton first coined the DEP term, he called it “a disjuncture in reciprocity between two differently disposed social actors,” such as autistic and non-autistic people – a breakdown in communication and understanding.  This, building on ideas and observations that were circulating in the autistic advocacy movement, challenged the old assumption that autistic people simply had deficits of empathy and social communication skills, which alone caused their social difficulties.  Instead, it suggested that many non-autistic people’s failure to understand and communicate with autistic people was part of the problem.
Since then, the double empathy problem has been widely invoked in writing and research – too widely, according to a new paper by Lucy A. Livingston and colleagues.  Livingston et al. aggressively criticize the way people use the idea of the DEP, basically saying it is poorly conceptualized and that it is continually being extended into new areas without reason.