Can autistic adults lie—and detect lies—like everyone else? And what happens when the justice system misreads autism traits as deception?
In this episode, we sit down with Teagan Blackhurst, a doctoral researcher at Lancaster University, to dive into her research on autism and deceptive communication. Teagan breaks down how autistic adults navigate truth and lies, and how misunderstanding these behaviors in legal settings can lead to serious consequences.
💡 Topics covered:
Can autistic people lie? (spoiler: yes!)
How stereotypes around eye contact and “shifty” behavior hurt autistic individuals
Real-world impacts: from police interactions to courtroom bias
Why both police and the public need better training
The "Prison Houdini" case and what it reveals
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