What Does Empathy and Understanding Look Like Across Communication Divides? Non-Speaking Autism as a Challenge to Practical Theology

In qualitative research, researchers and participants must understand each other. In hermeneutics, empathy is typically presented as the road to that understanding. In this article, we ask what empathy is and how empathy can contribute to the knowledge needed for practical theology. We also consider empathy between people who communicate in very different ways, such as when a non-speaking autistic person communicates with a speaking non-autistic person. By drawing on insights from philosophy, counseling, and social sciences and by discussing markers of linguistic and non-linguistic empathy, we work towards a theological account of empathy that is practically relevant in research and other situations.