Damian Milton is a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

sociologist and

social psychologist Social psychology is the scientific study of how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the real or imagined presence of other people or by social norms. Social psychologists typically explain human behavior as a result of the rela ...

who specialises in autism research, and an advocate in the Autism rights movement. He is a lecturer at the

University of Kent , motto_lang = , mottoeng = Literal translation: 'Whom to serve is to reign'(Book of Common Prayer translation: 'whose service is perfect freedom')Graham Martin, ''From Vision to Reality: the Making of the University of Kent at Canterbury'' ...

as well as a consultant for the UK's

National Autistic Society The National Autistic Society is the leading charity for autistic people and their families in the UK. Since 1962, the National Autistic Society has been providing support, guidance and advice, as well as campaigning for improved rights, serv ...

and has academic qualifications in sociology, psychology, philosophy, and education. Milton is best known for his " double empathy problem" theory, which is the idea that, contrary to previous studies in the 20th century had concluded, autistic people do not lack

theory of mind In psychology, theory of mind refers to the capacity to understand other people by ascribing mental states to them (that is, surmising what is happening in their mind). This includes the knowledge that others' mental states may be different fro ...

but rather that autistic people and

neurotypical Neurotypical (NT, an abbreviation of neurologically typical) is a neologism widely used in the neurodiversity movement as a label for non-neurodivergent people. That is, anyone who has a typical neurotype, so excluding autism, autistic people, t ...

people struggle with bidirectional theory of mind towards one another due to their neurological differences. While the concept had existed in earlier publications, Milton named and significantly expanded on it. Milton has been involved with (written or co-written) over 250 publications related to autism research. In his writing, he uses the

social model of disability The social model of disability identifies systemic barriers, derogatory attitudes, and social exclusion (intentional or inadvertent), which make it difficult or impossible for disabled people to attain their valued functionings. The social mode ...

, and many of his publications deconstruct and critically analyse past theories. One of his theories is that self-stimulatory behavior, also known as

stimming Self-stimulatory behavior, also known as "stimming" and self-stimulation, is the repetition of physical movements, sounds, words, moving objects, or other repetitive behaviors. Such behaviors (also scientifically known as 'stereotypies') are fou ...

, helps autistic people to create flow states. His papers describing the need for more autistic voices have been favorably received by the academic community as well as the autistic community. His work has influenced autism groups and major autism researchers such as

Simon Baron-Cohen Sir Simon Philip Baron-Cohen (born 15 August 1958) is a British clinical psychologist and professor of developmental psychopathology at the University of Cambridge. He is the director of the university's Autism Research Centre and a Fellow o ...

to involve more autistic people in their programs and research. The Genetic Literacy Project has criticised his work to improve communication between autistic and neurotypical people by claiming it oversimplifies the ways people with different types of autism process information and communicate.

Selected works

Journal articles

* 2014: ''Autistic expertise: A critical reflection on the production of knowledge in autism studies'' * 2013: ''Autistics speak but are they heard?'' * 2014: ''Going with the flow: reconsidering 'repetitive behaviour' through the concept of 'flow states * 2016: ''How is a sense of well-being and belonging constructed in the accounts of autistic adults?'' * 2018: ''Making the future together: Shaping autism research through meaningful participation'' * 2012: ''On the ontological status of autism: the 'double empathy problem * 2018: ''Redefining Critical Autism Studies: a more inclusive interpretation''

Books

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Milton, Damian Living people Social psychologists Autism activists Autism researchers British sociologists Year of birth missing (living people)