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In a nutshell
- Autistic people share information just as effectively with other autistic individuals as non-autistic people do with each other, challenging long-held assumptions about universal communication deficits in autism.
- Communication difficulties may stem more from mismatched neurotypes than from autism itself, supporting the “double empathy problem” theory that misunderstandings go both ways.
- Disclosing an autism diagnosis improved rapport between participants, suggesting that openness about neurodivergence can enhance social connection rather than hinder it.
EDINBURGH, Scotland — Autism is often defined by what people supposedly can’t do: communicate effectively, share information, connect socially. However, a major international study suggests that when autistic people communicate with others like them, they’re just as effective as anyone else. The problem, it turns out, may not lie within autistic individuals, but in how others interact with them.
The research, published in Nature Human Behaviour, involved 311 participants across three countries. Using an ingenious method called “diffusion chains,” essentially a sophisticated version of the telephone game, scientists discovered that autistic people transfer information to and from other autistic people as effectively as non-autistic people do with each other.
Autism Communication Myths
Six participants sat in separate rooms and passed information down a chain, person to person. Some chains consisted entirely of autistic people, others of non-autistic people, and some mixed the two groups together. Each person heard a story and then had to retell it to the next person in line.
Autistic and non-autistic people were just as successful at passing along information, regardless of whether they were paired with someone of the same neurotype or not. In every group — autistic-only, non-autistic-only, and mixed —the information moved down the chain with similar accuracy.
This finding directly contradicts current medical thinking that defines autism by “persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction.” Yet when autistic people communicated with others who shared their neurotype, they demonstrated the same communicative competence as anyone else.
Unlike earlier studies that typically focused on narrow demographics, this research intentionally recruited from diverse backgrounds across Edinburgh, Nottingham, and Dallas. The participant group included 154 autistic and 157 non-autistic adults with a wide range of ages, genders, ethnicities, and cognitive abilities.
They also found that autistic people particularly enjoyed talking to other autistic people. When participants rated their interactions, autistic people gave higher rapport scores when they communicated with others who shared their neurotype. Non-autistic participants showed a similar pattern, preferring interactions within their own neurotype.
This aligns with what many autistic people have long said about feeling more comfortable and understood in the company of other autistic individuals. They tend to open up more, enjoy spending time together, and feel a stronger sense of mutual understanding when interacting with fellow autistic individuals.
The Double Empathy Problem
These findings support what’s known as the “double empathy problem,” a theory suggesting that communication difficulties between autistic and non-autistic people arise from mutual misunderstanding rather than one-sided deficits.
Studies show that non-autistic people struggle to identify autistic facial expressions and understand autistic mental states. They also form rapid negative judgments about autistic people based on brief interactions, though these same judgments improve when they know someone is autistic.
The double empathy problem reframes autism completely. Instead of asking why autistic people can’t communicate “normally,” it asks why different neurotypes struggle to understand each other, and suggests the difficulty goes both ways.
The study also examined whether knowing someone’s autism diagnosis affected interactions. Rapport was higher across the board when diagnosis was disclosed. This may help to ease fears that revealing autism will lead to discrimination and suggests transparency about neurodivergence can actually improve social connections.
Autism Understanding and Support
Rather than focusing exclusively on helping autistic people adapt to non-autistic norms, we should work on bridging communication gaps between different neurotypes in schools, workplaces, and social settings.
When people share similar communication styles, regardless of whether they’re autistic or not, information flows beautifully. Effective teams and inclusive environments require understanding different communication styles rather than forcing everyone into the same mold.
Effective communication happens when people understand each other’s “language,” neurological or otherwise. For too long, we’ve asked autistic people to adapt to a non-autistic world. Instead of focusing on what’s “wrong” with autistic communication, we should focus on how there is more than one right way to connect.
Paper Summary
Methodology
The researchers used a “diffusion chain” method across three international sites (Edinburgh, Nottingham, and Dallas). In this telephone-game-like experiment, six participants sat in separate rooms and passed information sequentially down a chain. Chains were either entirely autistic, entirely non-autistic, or mixed (alternating between autistic and non-autistic participants). Each participant heard either a fictional story or factual information, had time to practice retelling it, then shared it with the next person in line. The researchers recorded these interactions and scored how much information was successfully transmitted. Participants also rated their rapport with their interaction partners.
Results
The study found no significant difference in information transfer accuracy between autistic-only, non-autistic-only, or mixed neurotype chains. Both fictional and factual information traveled equally well through all types of chains. However, rapport ratings revealed interesting patterns: non-autistic participants reported higher rapport scores overall, and autistic participants particularly enjoyed interactions with other autistic people. Disclosing someone’s autism diagnosis also improved rapport ratings.
Limitations
The study was limited to Western populations (US and UK) with high average IQs, and all participants communicated verbally. The findings might not apply to autistic people with intellectual disabilities or those who communicate non-verbally. Additionally, the controlled experimental setting might not fully capture the complexity of real-world social interactions. The diverse participant sample, while more representative, may have introduced variables that masked neurotype-specific effects.
Funding and Disclosures
This research was funded by a grant from the Templeton World Charity Foundation. Following peer review, additional funding was provided to include a condition where participants were uninformed about diagnostic status. The authors declared no competing interests.
Publication Information
The study was authored by Crompton, C.J., Foster, S.J., Wilks, C.E.H. et al. It is titled “Information transfer within and between autistic and non-autistic people,” and was published in Nature Human Behaviour in 2025.a
