Abstract/Statement
Mutual Mismatch (2026)
Digital collage
Artist Statement
This collage reflects on the misinformation that frames autism as a unilateral social deficit. Narratives in media, clinical discourse, and scholarship often position neurotypical traits as universal and neutral, while divergent bodies, minds, and ways of being, are frequently interpreted as disorder.
Drawing on the concept of the double empathy problem, as articulated by Damian Milton—the idea that relational breakdown between autistic and non-autistic people is mutual rather than one-sided—this collage questions the assumption that relational complexity originates in autism alone. Instead, the image highlights the differences and complexities that shape both sides.
In the collage, I incorporate a line from Plato—“You do me too much honor if you suppose that I am capable of divining his motives so exactly” (Plato, 1973, p. 78)—as cited in Milton (2012), reflecting the impossibility of fully interpreting another’s perspective and reinforcing the mutual and unpredictable nature of human exchange.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Recommended Citation
Santos, Diogo M.
(2026)
"Mutual Mismatch,"
Ought: The Journal of Autistic Culture: Vol. 7:
Iss.
2, Article 13.
DOI: 10.9707/2833-1508.1273
Available at:
https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/ought/vol7/iss2/13