Clearing Up Common Autism Myths

What’s Wrong with These Myths?

Some myths about autism may seem harmless, or even positive at first glance, but they are still based on stereotypes and generalizations. These can minimize and erase the true lived experiences of autistic people and even make it more difficult for someone to get a diagnosis of autism or access needed accommodations.

A common misconception about autism, for example, is that it is always associated with extreme precision and attention to detail. Someone who doesn’t experience that particular facet of autism may be misdiagnosed and provided with services that don’t actually support them or be criticized for not exemplifying the “good” aspects of neurodivergence. They may even come to feel that they don’t belong as part of the autistic community or avoid seeking out diagnosis in the first place.

And that is just one example of a myth that is commonly thought to be positive! Many others are more clearly actively harmful and may lead to autistic people being perceived as rigid, antisocial, emotionless, or incapable of living fulfilling lives. These negative assumptions are no truer of autistic people than they are of any group of people, and so it is important to be aware of and reject such overgeneralizations.

MYTH – Autism is caused by vaccines, parenting choices, gluten, heavy metals…

…the list goes on. Every few years it seems that autism is “blamed” on some different culprit. All have so far been disproven. Perhaps the highest-profile myth along these lines, that vaccines cause autism, was so soundly disproven that the perpetrator of the lie lost his medical license.

Much in the same way that treating a viral infection with antibiotics is ineffective, interventions based on false causes of autism will have little to no effect, and indeed may even have actively negative effects. In addition, time and money spent pursuing ineffective treatments takes away resources that could be put toward truly supporting autistic people.

Autism is more likely to be diagnosed in people who have autistic family members, and the CDC notes that autism is a function of a combination of "Factores ambientales, biológicos y genéticos". As such, it cannot be prevented or cured, nor is that a healthy goal. (Relatedly, this is why we do not consider our ABA services to be “therapy” at Waypoints, but rather a skill-building tool!)

MYTH – Autism is a childhood condition

This myth is easily disprovable based on the simple passage of time! Autistic children grow into autistic adults. Society’s focus on autistic children may be due to the fact that autism only became a formal diagnosis in the 1980s, and as such the earliest of those who received that diagnosis have only become adults relatively recently. It will likely take a while for the public perception to catch up to reality, but that process is being aided by fantastic books by autistic adults about their experiences, such as Unmasking Autism, Strong Female Character, and Ten Steps to Nanette.

Autistic people who benefit from environmental accommodations don’t simply grow out of those needs, though of course they may change over time. Failing to acknowledge the existence of autistic adults can lead to greater difficulty for those adults obtaining insurance coverage for support services, accommodations in the workplace, and even simply the understanding of their friends and loved ones. La Red de Autodefensa Autista is just one great resource for learning about and from autistic adults.

MYTH – Autistic people cannot learn effectively

This myth might have arisen simply because of the nature of humanity’s neurodiverse brain functioning, and the fact that everyone learns in different ways. According to the American Psychiatric Association, one of the diagnostic criteria for autism is “persistent deficits in social communication and social interaction across multiple contexts.” This can sometimes make it difficult to learn in over-crowded traditional classrooms, but in a perfect world, teaching methods would be individualized and adapted to ALL students’ needs. The assumption that any person simply can’t learn is a dangerously defeatist perspective, and one that behavior analysis (often called the science of learning) is well-positioned to overcome.

Of course, autistic people may also be diagnosed with intellectual or learning disabilities, just as allistic (i.e., non-autistic) people. On the other side of that coin, autistic people are also just as likely to be intellectually gifted as their allistic peers. It may be the case that autistic people with another kind of disability are more likely to have their autism formally diagnosed, simply because they are already being assessed for other support needs. As with all of these myths, the most important thing is to approach each person based on their individual needs, not their diagnosis or any other kind of label.