You Don't Know What You Don't Know...

When we think about autism,

people often focus on

communication or sensory differences,

but an area that doesn’t

get as much consideration is social imagination.

Social imagination is essentially the ability to imagine different possibilities, predict outcomes, or picture life beyond current circumstances.

For many autistic young people, particularly those also experiencing mental health difficulties such as eating disorders, self-harm, or anxiety, this can make change feel incredibly scary and difficult. 

For example, if a young person has lived for a long time with an eating disorder, they may genuinely struggle to imagine who they would be without it or how they might use other coping strategies to manage.

“How do I know what I’d be like, what interests are mine compared to the illness, what I would talk about, what my identity would be. I have an empty canvas and that is too overwhelming because I don’t know where to begin in carving out a personality. “

This means that phrases like: “Do it for future you” or, “You’ll be happier when you recover” or, “Think about the life you could have if you recovered”…may actually be quite unhelpful as they can feel really abstract, overwhelming, or frightening rather than motivating.

"At least mental illness provides a structure, a framework that feels safe."

We are all creatures of habit to some extent and we can all relate to the fear of the unknown - so we can understand why familiarity feels safer. But the difference is that most neurotypical people can imagine what change might look like, it may feel challenging, but for some young people with autism, it can feel deeply unsafe. 

“There’s no evidence in my mind that it is possible to cope without my strategies. I can’t picture a life I haven’t known and I feel genuinely confused about what things would be like if they were different.”

Concrete thinking associated with autism can mean that ‘different = wrong’ because it is unfamiliar and unpredictable. 

This is why concrete, structured approaches are often more helpful than abstract future-focused motivation.

Helpful approaches might be things like:

• Clear, but gradual goals

• Immediate and meaningful rewards

• Predictable steps

• Social Stories

• Visual plans

• Consistency and repetition

  
  

Breaking change into manageable stages can make progress feel safer and way more achievable!

Social imagination differences can also contribute to misunderstandings around things like empathy.

Autistic young people are often unfairly stereotyped as lacking empathy - not true!

In reality, many autistic individuals are some of the most caring and empathetic people you will ever meet. However, if they have not personally experienced a situation, they may find it harder to instinctively imagine another person’s perspective. 

So, they aren’t uncaring, they just perhaps cannot put themselves in your shoes an understand what that situation feels like for you.

Conversely, when they have experienced something similar, autistic young people are often super compassionate, insightful, and deeply understanding.

In a nutshell, recognising social imagination differences or difficulties allows us to better support autistic young people by being patient, making change more manageable by removing uncertainty, and in the meantime making them feel safer to move forward. 

Your young person isn’t being stubborn or difficult, they may just be struggling to imagine what life would look like if things were different. 

Written by Kaya Leonard