9 myths about autism
Autism has only really fully come into the public consciousness in the last decade and as a result there is a lot of unawareness and misinformation out there. To be honest, science has been a little slow in this field and so there is plenty that they’re yet to work out, however there are some things that they’re fairly certain in and I figured it might be helpful to address some of those ‘myths’ out there and help autistic people be more understood.
Autism Myth #1: Everyone’s a little autistic
I wanted to address this first because it underpins a lot of other myths. Autism is not a linear diagnosis so it’s not a matter of being ‘a little bit’ or ‘a lot’: you either are autistic or you’re not. Autism is a spectrum that consists of 7 criteria and a person with the diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder has met 5 out of 7 of these criteria. If they meet only 4 then they are probably a little – or a lot – on the weird side, but they aren’t autistic. Now what is true is that everyone’s created differently and so the chances are good that many people, to a certain degree, have at least 1 criterion. But that doesn’t make them autistic, it just makes them human (although autistic people are also human, but you get what I’m saying, right?). If you want to know about what the diagnostic criteria actually looks like, check out the Resources section where I’ve put a nifty fact sheet.
Autism Myth #2: All autistic people have a certain ‘look’
It’s common for autistic people to hear others say, ‘But you don’t look autistic!’, and not believe their diagnosis. Autism is a hidden disability; it’s a neurological disorder where, to put it very simply, the brain has been wired differently. Unlike many other disabilities there is no particular physical characteristic accompanying autism and in many ways it would be a lot easier for autistic people if there was. They’d be believed more, for one thing. Having said this there can be markers if you know what to look for. For example, if a person has repetitive behaviour as one of their criterion then they might make fairly odd movements, especially with their hands. If a person struggles with nonverbal cues then they might give too little – or in some cases too much – eye contact. In general though most autistic people look, for the most part, like anyone else but don’t let their external façade fool you: internally they might be going completely crazy in any given situation, and to be told that they are not believed makes it all worse for it means they are not receiving the understanding and support that they desperately need.
Autism Myth #3: Every autistic person is the same
Your neighbour says, ‘I have an autistic nephew and he flaps his arms but you don’t, which means that you can’t be autistic’. Here’s a great saying to remember coined by Stephen Shore: ‘If you’ve met one person with autism, then you’ve met one person with autism’. Recall that in Myth #1 I described how ASD has 7 criteria. Well, not everyone has the exact same combination, every person has different levels of severity concerning what criteria they do have, and finally each criterion can be expressed differently. Thus while they often share similar characteristics, no two autistic people are alike. While your nephew might flap his arms all the time (a repetitive behaviour), another person might not have this criterion at all, or if they do they might either not perform it as much (indicating a lower level of severity) and instead they tap their foot or repeat a word several times (a different expression). Autism is an individualised disability.
Autism Myth #4: Autistic people are savants/are stupid
‘But you can’t be autistic, you’re not brilliant at maths’, or ‘But you seem quite intelligent’. Firstly, go back and read Myth #3 and then I’ll address the other aspect to this myth. Neither being a savant (which is what is meant by the first statement), or intellectually disabled (second statement) is a criterion for ASD, however they can be ‘friends’ of autism. You see, autism likes to collect what I call ‘friends’ but the official term is co-occurrences (formerly co-morbidities) such as ADHD, APD, OCD, SPD and pretty much anything with an acronym and some without. It’s actually rare to find someone with just straight ASD after their name. Savant Syndrome and Intellectual Disability can also find a home within the autistic person’s brain, though the latter is far more common than the former.
Autism Myth #5: Autistic people don’t want friends
It’s often hard for people to believe that a really social person could possibly be autistic, but it’s true: you can be autistic and have a lot of friends! Just like every person autistic people can come as extraverts and introverts, and they also have preferences as to how many friends they desire to have and how much time they spend in their company. The real issue comes when their social and communication criteria (3 of the 7 that they must have) are at the more severe end of the scale, resulting in them wanting to have friends but struggling to make and sustain friendships. So if you see an autistic person by themselves it might not be that they’re avoiding people but rather they don’t know how to include themselves in the group. Perhaps you could help them out by inviting them in, or engage them in easier one-on-one interaction? Also, autistic people do tend to need more breaks because of overload and overwhelm, so if you see them wander off from the crowd then just ask if they’re ok and be prepared to leave it at that. They’ll join back in when, and if, they’re ready.
Autism Myth #6: Only boys are autistic
‘Traditionally’ autism was believed to have a 4:1 ratio between boys and girls, hence the belief that it’s far more prevalent in the former than the latter. In the last decade however it’s becoming more apparent that this isn’t right and they’re bumping the numbers tentatively up to 2:1, with some theorising it’s even 1:1. This is because boys tend to express autism differently to girls, and the initial way of testing was very ‘boy-focussed’, so naturally they just didn’t pick up on the girls unless they produced very ‘boy-like’ characteristics. Of course, the reverse also occurred, where boys who displayed what could be considered more ‘typical girl’ type characteristics were also missed, however this obviously made less of a difference in the stats. So with widening the concept of what could be considered ‘normal’ for autistic presentation, the numbers have increased and the gap between sexes decreased.
Autism Myth #7: You can grow out of autism
One of the reasons behind the query of the boy-girl ratio was the fact that this ratio pans out when it comes to adults, which is firmly 2:1 but again, many are saying it could be more like 1:1. And if you didn’t figure out that implication I’ll spell it out for you: little autistics become big autistics! Autistic children do not magically stop being autistic when they are 18 years old; instead they just transition into being autistic adults. Interestingly, due to the nature and challenges of adulthood, many who were not questioned or diagnosed as autistic during childhood (though probably had a few more struggles than the average person) are suddenly realising that their lives are falling apart (ie. unconscious coping mechanisms are no longer working). Thus the number of adults seeking a diagnosis is rising, causing the ratio to close up.
Autism Myth #8: Autism can be cured
Just as autism can’t be outgrown, it also can’t be cured. This is actually a touchy subject as some autistics LOVE the way they are and find the very idea of ‘curing’ autism to be highly offensive. But then I’ve also heard of people (and know parents of autistic children) who really struggle with autism and would do anything to ‘make it go away’. Personally I think both are valid feelings and both should be respected. These two camps are also battling it out in the public arena, with more and more organisations being created ‘by autistics for autistics’, while others such as Autism Speaks dedicate themselves towards a cure. I recently heard about Simon Baron-Cohen, a long-time researcher in the field of autism talking about collecting DNA so that the ‘autism gene’ (if there is one) can be isolated and removed from future populations. There are also individual stories of children who are ‘cured’ through health protocols though the majority have been debunked as being at one end harmless but useless, through to outright child abuse. There is some merit to kids being in such a ‘happy place’ that their autistic characteristics, which may not have been very severe in the first place, appear to now be non-existent. I’d like to see those kids as they enter the challenging environment of adulthood though and whether they suddenly ‘relapse’ into autism. Suffice to say that autism cannot be, dare I say it, ‘cured’, and unless the Baron-Cohens of this world are successful, it’s here to stay. At least, this is what the research shows for now.
Autism Myth #9: Vaccination causes autism
Yet another touchy subject but for a different reason. There are many things that researchers are yet to discover about autism but one thing they did research into long and hard was whether vaccines can cause autism. Anecdotes will tell you that many children after receiving a vaccine suddenly become autistic. While genetics is the greatest ‘cause’ for autism there are a few environmental factors that they’ve found could contribute to it, such as the age of the parents, births being very close together, and Mum being obese. Vaccination resides on the ‘definitely doesn’t cause it’ list. Naturally some people will call this a conspiracy but one fairly logical line of reasoning (beyond the science) is that, if vaccines caused autism, then how come every child who has been vaccinated isn’t autistic? And some children who have never been vaccinated are? And if you immediately think, ‘But everyone’s a little bit autistic’, I direct you back to Myth #1. While I’m not saying that kids can’t have reactions to vaccines, for the moment any correlation between vaccination and autism suddenly emerging is considered to be coincidence.
I hope this has helped you understand a bit more about autism. If you want to chat about any of these myths, or add your own, then feel free in the comments section.