ABSTRACT
This chapter approaches the topics of social cognition and the wellbeing of autistic individuals through considerations of their relationships to neurotypical institutions. Utilising an enactive framework informed by the social model approach, the chapter argues social cognition and identity are constituted via embodied and embedded social practices of institutions. By integrating the double empathy hypothesis (Milton, 2012) and the monotropism theory (Murray, Lesser, and Lawson, 2005) with the enactive framework, the chapter explores how aspects of neurotypical institutional social practices impact autistic individuals. Finally, the chapter concludes by discussing two further research paths based on the preceding analysis for the development of interventions to improve the social cognitive skills and wellbeing of autistic individuals. The first research path focuses on the potential the enactive framework has for explaining and further developing the field of animal-assisted therapy for autistic individuals. The second raises the question of what an enactive neurodiversity paradigm in education would look like.
