{"id":4627,"date":"2023-06-08T21:07:34","date_gmt":"2023-06-08T14:07:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/autism-myths-debunked-by-experts-and-autistics\/"},"modified":"2023-06-08T21:07:34","modified_gmt":"2023-06-08T14:07:34","slug":"autism-myths-debunked-by-experts-and-autistics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/?p=4627","title":{"rendered":"Autism Myths Debunked by Experts and Autistics"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"drop-cap text-big text-gray\"> <span class=\"drop-cap__first text-dropcap \">I<\/span> used to think I couldn\u2019t possibly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/self-care-autism\/\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/self-care-autism\/\">be autistic<\/a>. As far as I was concerned, autistic people are typically men, can\u2019t connect with other people, and are obsessed with trains and cars, right? Not so. I have since learned that I am autistic despite not having these traits, which represent a stereotype of autistic people more than an accurate characterization.<\/div>\n<p>Many people form a concept of autism\u2014a neurotype (type of brain) that processes social and sensory information differently from the majority of people\u2014based on movies like <em>Rain Man <\/em>(whose protagonist is inspired by someone who <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aruma.com.au\/about-us\/blog\/get-to-know-the-real-rain-man-kim-peek\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.aruma.com.au\/about-us\/blog\/get-to-know-the-real-rain-man-kim-peek\/\">was not even autistic<\/a>) rather than real-life interactions with people with autism. Stereotypes about autism can prevent those who don\u2019t fit them from realizing they\u2019re autistic, which means that they may not receive the support they need, or may have other, more stigmatizing labels put on them. Stereotypes can also cause autistic people to feel like something is wrong with them. Not to mention, they perpetuate pathologizing beliefs about autism, e.g. that it is caused by vaccines.<\/p>\n<p>Some stereotypes about autistic people have a grain of truth to them but are misunderstood, some are true for a portion of autistic people but not others, and some are outright wrong. Here are a few common autism myths and misconceptions that are worth questioning.<\/p>\n<h2>1. Myth: Autistic people don\u2019t care about other people.<\/h2>\n<p>Fact: When many people think of autism, they picture someone who lacks empathy. This can make the label of \u201cautistic\u201d very stigmatizing, as it implies that autistic people are unkind or uncaring. In reality, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/ncbddd\/autism\/hcp-dsm.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/ncbddd\/autism\/hcp-dsm.html\">diagnostic criteria for autism<\/a> say nothing about empathy.<\/p>\n<div class=\"related-content \" style=\"\" data-module-init=\"related-content\" data-module-immediate=\"\" v-cloak=\"\">\n<div class=\"related-content__wrapper \" v-cloak=\"\" :class=\"{'is-loaded':isLoaded}\">\n<p> <span class=\"inline pr-6 text-seafoam-dark\">Related Stories<\/span> <\/p>\n<p> <related-content class=\"related-content__links\" parent-article-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/autism-myths\/\" current-title=\"I\u2019m an Autistic Woman, and These 7 Stereotypes About Autism Are Flat-Out Wrong\" current-image=\"GettyImages-autism-myths-OliverRossi-425x285.jpeg\" v-on:parsely-posts-loaded=\"onPostsLoaded\" start-date=\"2022-12-08\" tag=\"div\" inline-template=\"\" url=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/autism-myths\/\" secret=\"w5ztterVB03LGZJLfXS0hf3EvQBuFFIWew9hmVQxthU\" apikey=\"wellandgood.com\" limit=\"3\"> <\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"related-content__card mb-[10px] sm:mb-[20px]\" :class=\"{'related-content__card--full':posts.length === 1}\" v-for=\"(post, key) in posts\"> <a v-on:click.prevent=\"trackLinkGA($event, key)\" :href=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/autism-myths\/post.url\" data-url-source=\"related-content\" class=\"related-content__link\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"\"> <\/p>\n<div class=\"related-content__card--image bg-tan\" :style=\"{ backgroundImage: 'url(' + post.image_url + ')' }\"> <img :src=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/autism-myths\/post.image_url\" :alt=\"post.title\"\/> <\/div>\n<p> <\/a>  <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> <\/related-content> <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Some autistic people do have different patterns of empathizing than others, but that doesn\u2019t mean they don\u2019t empathize at all. For instance, I don\u2019t usually have strong feelings in response to world events, as my practical brain prefers to focus on things in my immediate environment\u2014but this doesn\u2019t mean I don\u2019t empathize with people close to me.<\/p>\n<p>Other autistic people may not always empathize with those around them, but this is often due to a lack of understanding rather than a lack of caring. \u201cI have a great deal of empathy once I understand the context of a situation,\u201d says Eleanor Bennett, an autistic 27-year-old in Cambridge, UK and founder of <a href=\"https:\/\/competitiveinsight.io\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/competitiveinsight.io\/\">Competitive Insight<\/a>. We <em>want <\/em>to be there for people and help them; we just may need the chance to learn how to do so.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAutistic individuals are fully capable of empathy and can even experience hyper-empathy, where they feel overwhelming pain, both emotionally and physically, at just the thought of someone else&#8217;s suffering,\u201d says <a href=\"https:\/\/www.speechbuddy.com\/speech-therapy\/profile\/b242cba46cda72d\/kjirsten-broughton\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.speechbuddy.com\/speech-therapy\/profile\/b242cba46cda72d\/kjirsten-broughton\">Kjirsten Broughton<\/a>, a neurodivergent speech and language pathologist specializing in autism. \u201cMany autistic individuals often exhibit hyper-empathy toward animals.\u201d Ari Wolf, a 34-year-old autistic graduate student in Eugene, Oregon, identifies as hyper-empathetic, explaining, \u201cwe simply express this empathy differently from most people.\u201d For example, Wolf says that an autistic person might respond to someone\u2019s story about their pain by telling a story about a time they\u2019ve felt similarly. \u201cWe view this as an experience of empathy, but it is rarely received that way.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>2. Myth: Relationships aren\u2019t important to autistic people<\/h2>\n<p>Autistic people are often seen as loners or anti-social, but we need human connection just like everyone else. Many of us are simply wary of others due to the mistreatment we\u2019ve received in the past.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe reason, personally, that it might seem like I don&#8217;t want a close relationship is because, to be blunt, people scare me,\u201d says autistic motivational speaker <a href=\"https:\/\/russl.co\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/russl.co\/\">Russell Lehmann<\/a>. \u201cI have been hurt a lot by this world, due to the na\u00efvet\u00e9, purity, innocence, and fragility of being on the spectrum. Something as simple as a smile not being returned can leave a paper cut on my heart.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Some of us enjoy spending time alone because social activities are overwhelming to us or because we are engrossed in our special interests\u2014topics and activities autistic people are extremely passionate about. But this doesn\u2019t mean we don\u2019t want any friends, close family relationships, or romantic relationships. In fact, research shows that autistic people <a href=\"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/full\/10.1177\/13623613221077721\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/doi\/full\/10.1177\/13623613221077721\">experience loneliness more often<\/a> than neurotypical people, probably because others so often exclude us. While some autistic people may need lots of time to ourselves, we still appreciate feeling wanted and included.<\/p>\n<h2>3. Myth: Autistic people lack social skills<\/h2>\n<p>Given that one <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/ncbddd\/autism\/hcp-dsm.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/ncbddd\/autism\/hcp-dsm.html\">diagnostic criterion for autism<\/a> is \u201cpersistent deficits in social communication and social interaction,\u201d it\u2019s understandable that people often assume autism entails a lack of social skills. However, the criterion itself is problematic: Who decides what counts as a deficit? Usually, it is neurotypical people. What a neurotypical person might call a deficit, autistic people may simply call a difference.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is extremely common for any dominant social group to demean and dismiss the marginalized social group&#8217;s preferred form of communication,\u201d Wolf points out. \u201cMisogynistic men often mock or belittle women&#8217;s voices as too sharp, too domineering, too shrewish, too whatever.\u201d Similarly, the denigration of autistic people\u2019s social behavior as inept or awkward may be more political than scientific.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile some autistic individuals may face challenges in social interactions and communication with neurotypical individuals, it is important to note that these challenges are not one-sided,\u201d Broughton explains. \u201cNeurotypical individuals also encounter difficulties when communicating with autistic people.\u201d In other words, it\u2019s not that autistic people can\u2019t communicate\u2014it\u2019s that autistic people have trouble communicating withneurotypical people, and vice versa.<\/p>\n<p>This isn\u2019t always the case either, though. Many autistic people, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.psychologytoday.com\/us\/blog\/women-autism-spectrum-disorder\/202104\/masking-and-mental-health-in-women-autism\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.psychologytoday.com\/us\/blog\/women-autism-spectrum-disorder\/202104\/masking-and-mental-health-in-women-autism\">especially autistic women<\/a>, learn to \u201cmask\u201d\u2014that is, mimic the speech, body language, and social behavior of neurotypical people. This may not come naturally to us, but we do it in order to fit in, which can cause us to exhibit the same social skills as neurotypical people. Masking can be emotionally taxing for autistic people and is part of the reason why many of us shy away from social situations.<\/p>\n<h2>4. Myth: Autism is a male characteristic<\/h2>\n<p>Autism is often stereotyped as a male condition, leading many women and non-binary people to go undiagnosed. (I was not diagnosed until my thirties). However, while it\u2019s true that men dominate autism diagnoses, <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/28545751\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/28545751\/\">recent research<\/a> has shown that autism is more common in women than previously believed\u2014and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/society\/2018\/sep\/14\/thousands-of-autistic-girls-and-women-going-undiagnosed-due-to-gender-bias\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" rel=\"nofollow\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/society\/2018\/sep\/14\/thousands-of-autistic-girls-and-women-going-undiagnosed-due-to-gender-bias\">we may still not even know how common it is<\/a>. Part of the reason for this is that men\u2019s autistic traits can sometimes be more visible. Autism often <a href=\"https:\/\/health.clevelandclinic.org\/for-females-with-autism-differences-matter\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/health.clevelandclinic.org\/for-females-with-autism-differences-matter\/\">shows up differently in women<\/a>, as women are more likely to learn conventional social behavior by observing others and engage in masking.<\/p>\n<p>Because of autistic women\u2019s tendency to mask and because of clinicians\u2019 bias toward diagnosing men, autism in women is likely <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/autistic-women-adult-diagnosis\/\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.wellandgood.com\/autistic-women-adult-diagnosis\/\">vastly underestimated<\/a>, which means many women go years (or their whole lives) without help navigating the world as an autistic person. Women are also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.psychologytoday.com\/us\/blog\/talking-about-trauma\/201905\/why-women-autism-so-often-are-misdiagnosed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.psychologytoday.com\/us\/blog\/talking-about-trauma\/201905\/why-women-autism-so-often-are-misdiagnosed\">frequently misdiagnosed<\/a>, sometimes with stigmatized conditions like borderline personality disorder. In addition, trans and non-binary people are <a href=\"https:\/\/clicks.trx-hub.com\/xid\/leafgroup_ca5e0_wellgood?q=https%3A%2F%2Fgo.skimresources.com%3Fid%3D104860X1561639%26xs%3D1%26xcust%3DSTMSLS-1073451%26url%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.nature.com%252Farticles%252Fs41467-020-17794-1&amp;p=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wellandgood.com%2Fautism-myths%2F&amp;event_type=click\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s41467-020-17794-1\">more likely than cis people to be autistic<\/a>, yet this population is often left out of discussions about autism.<\/p>\n<p>Along the same lines, autistic people do not universally have stereotypically \u201cmasculine\u201d interests such as math and science. While many autistic people do have particular interests (which, again, are not unique to men), these interests can include anything from fashion to theater to movies.<\/p>\n<h2>5. Myth: Autistic people are violent<\/h2>\n<p>Unfortunately, after a violent crime is in the news, you sometimes hear rumors that the perpetrator was autistic. (Think back, for instance, to internet speculation that the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/emilywillingham\/2014\/05\/30\/elliot-rodger-didnt-have-autism-he-had-anger\/?sh=7017aaec4b91\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/emilywillingham\/2014\/05\/30\/elliot-rodger-didnt-have-autism-he-had-anger\/?sh=7017aaec4b91\">mass shooter Elliot Rodger was autistic<\/a>.) \u201cThis stereotype is not only inaccurate, but it is also harmful,\u201d says <a href=\"https:\/\/www.integrativepsych.nyc\/experts\/dr-ryan-sultan\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.integrativepsych.nyc\/experts\/dr-ryan-sultan\">Ryan Sultan, MD<\/a>, a psychiatrist and researcher at Columbia University. The view of autistic people as aggressive can lead to many problems including bullying, exclusion, employment discrimination, and even violence toward autistic people, he explains.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAutistic people are no more likely to be violent or aggressive than anyone else,\u201d says Dr. Sultan. Indeed, a 2018 study in <em>Frontiers in Psychiatry<\/em> found that autistic people were <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC5980973\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC5980973\/\">no more likely than neurotypical people<\/a> to commit crimes. Autistic people are, however, <a href=\"https:\/\/clicks.trx-hub.com\/xid\/leafgroup_ca5e0_wellgood?q=https%3A%2F%2Fgo.skimresources.com%3Fid%3D104860X1561639%26xs%3D1%26xcust%3DSTMSLS-1073451%26url%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Flink.springer.com%252Farticle%252F10.1007%252Fs10803-022-05647-3&amp;p=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wellandgood.com%2Fautism-myths%2F&amp;event_type=click\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/article\/10.1007\/s10803-022-05647-3\">more likely to be the victims of crimes<\/a>, including sexual assault and physical violence.<\/p>\n<h2>6. Myth: There is such a thing as \u201clooking autistic\u201d<\/h2>\n<p>Some autistic people get told they \u201cdon\u2019t look autistic,\u201d which not only invalidates their identity but also reflects a misunderstanding of autism. \u201cAutism does not have a look,\u201d says <a href=\"https:\/\/laquistaerinna.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" data-vars-event=\"body text\" data-vars-click-url=\"https:\/\/laquistaerinna.com\/\">LaQuista Erinna, DBH, LCSW,<\/a> a psychotherapist and mother of an autistic son. \u201cEvery autistic individual is different and will present themself in their own unique way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And contrary to media stereotypes, there is no one way to act autistic. Autistic people have a wide range of personalities, interests, and characteristics. \u201cEach person with autism is unique and may experience different challenges and strengths,\u201d says Dr. Sultan. That\u2019s why it\u2019s called the autism spectrum; it includes a wide range of people and experiences.<\/p>\n<h2>7. Myth: Being autistic is a bad thing<\/h2>\n<p>I have personally had people tell me \u201cyou don\u2019t seem autistic\u201d as if it is a compliment, but I don\u2019t see it that way. I personally take it as a compliment when someone sees that I am autistic! It means they see that I\u2019m unique, passionate, delightfully quirky, and fiercely individualistic\u2014and, more simply, that they see me as I am. And who I am is a beautiful thing to celebrate, not a deficit to put down.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1675549\">\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>(function(w,q){w[q]=w[q]||[];w[q].push([\"_mgc.load\"])})(window,\"_mgq\");\r\n<\/script>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I used to think I couldn\u2019t possibly be autistic. As far as I was concerned, autistic people are typically men, can\u2019t connect with other people, and are obsessed with trains and cars, right? Not so. I have since learned that I am autistic despite not having these traits, which represent a stereotype of autistic people &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4628,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4627","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4627","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4627"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4627\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4628"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loudhdtv.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}