Monday, March 11, 2013

10 Myths about Autism

Myth [mith] (n): a false collective belief that is used to justify a social institution.

10 Myths about autism and people with autism, and why they are untrue.

  • People with autism don't want friends, and are antisocial. 
Many people with autism struggle with social skills, making them seem unsocial or shy, but that's just because they are unable to express their feelings in the same way as everyone else.
  • Autistic people do not understand, and cannot feel, emotions.
Autistic people are often times more empathetic than non-autistics. [ http://www.autismandempathy.com/ ] Autistic people can and do fall in love and get hurt just as easily as any other human being. 
  • The disorder of autism gets worse over time. 
"Autism and autism spectrum disorders are not inherently degenerative conditions. In fact, some patients have been known to slough off the symptoms of autism altogether with the right combination of medications and psychological guidance." Source
  • Autism is caused by bad parenting. 
Autism is not caused by anything in particular. A child cannot 'catch' autism as they would a cold or flu. In the 1950's autism was said to be caused by 'refrigerator mothers' - mothers who lacked emotional warmth. This has been disproven many times.
  • Autistic kids are just like Rain Man. 
Raymond (Rain Man) was a character in Rain Man, a 1988 film, which was one of the first times the world was told about autism and people with autism. Raymond was an autistic man who was unable to communicate or interact socially on many levels, and, among other things, his autism was portrayed by hitting and banging when situations got tense. This is not true of all autistic people, but some, and is now one of the first things that people think of when they think of autism. Many autistic people are high functioning and able to fully participate in society.
  • Autism is a form of mental retardation.
Individuals with autism and autism spectrum disorders actually harbor average to above average intelligence. Symptoms of autism include communication issues, difficulty in social situations, and repetitive behavior patterns. At no point does mental retardation ever factor into an autism diagnosis – any possible cases where both conditions are present have nothing to do with one another.  Source
  • People with autism have no sense of humor, and are completely unsocial.
Autistic people may not always be able to follow the joke, or understand the refference, but they have been known to crack a joke just as you or I.
  • Autistic people don't feel love
Autistic people feel love as much as any 'normal' person, if not more. There was a NYTimes article about a couple with autism in Dec, 2011. [ http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/26/us/navigating-love-and-autism.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 ]

  • People with autism cannot function enough on their own to be active members of society. 
Can't function? One autistic girl went all the way to semi-finals in the Miss America pageant, and received the 'People's Choice' award! [ http://www.krtv.com/news/miss-montana-among-15-finalists-in-miss-america-pageant/#_ ]
  • All autistic people are the same, or alike. 
Saying that all autistic people are the same is like saying that every snowflake is the same, or that every girl/boy out there is exactly like you. It is untrue. Each person (autistic or not) performs in their own ways at their own speed. 

I hope that this has opened some peoples eyes, either about what they thought they knew about autism, or to realize what other people think. Spread the word about what autism really is.

Do you have any other myths that people come to you believing? Questions? Comments? 
Email us: thecommunicareproject@gmail.com   or tweet us @CommunicareProj

2 comments:

  1. Hello! You might be interested in this thing researchers have discovered about myths. It's called the Familiarity Backfire Effect. Basically, if you repeat a myth (even to refute it!), you merely make it stronger. Check the link out for alternative approaches to debunking. Cheers, http://skepticalscience.com/Debunking-Handbook-Part-2-Familiarity-Backfire-Effect.html

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