Difficulties In Social Understanding For Autistics

The Autistic Mile · Sep 17, 2026 · 1m · transcript

Understanding what another person is thinking can be difficult enough on its own—especially when the social world already feels confusing.

Here, Jim and Shane explore what’s called “theory of mind”, and how some autistic individuals may struggle to intuitively recognize that other people can have thoughts, feelings, assumptions, and expectations that differ from their own.

When so much of social interaction relies on implication, tone, body language, and unwritten rules, navigating those differences can become especially challenging. An autistic person may say something that comes across as…