Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) myths and facts

 Hi,

There will be an easy read version, an infographic and translations at the bottom of this blog.

So I thought I'd try and dispel a few myths about ASD.  If you've heard of any other myths or things you're not sure if they are true or not, do feel free to ask.

1) Only boys are autistic.  Haha!  Well this was a very popular myth even amongst psychologists when I was a child.  I was actually assessed at school and my parents asked about autism then.  But the psychologist quickly told them that it was not possible for me to have autism as I was female 🙄.  The problem has been that girls present differently.  We mask and we mimic.  So although we don't have the natural skills to, say, socialise, we spend an awful lot of energy observing what other people are doing, and then copying them just to fit in as well as masking our own potentially 'quirky' behaviours (e.g. stimming).  So no, it's not just the lads.  Girls can be autistic too.

2) You can get autism from a vaccine😹.  There has been extensive research done on this subject, and it has all concluded that there is no link between vaccines and ASD.  It's not solely a genetics condition, environmental influences come into play as well, but a large proportion of ASD is down to genetic inheritance.  I may go into the genetics a bit more in another post (my background is genetics) for anyone interested.

3) Autism can be cured.  Nope.  And speaking as an autistic person myself, I don't actually see anything wrong with me that needs to be 'cured'.  There's no illness that you can develop a medicine for.  The brain is simply wired up differently.

4) People with autism have learning disabilities.  No.  There are people out there who do have ASD and a learning disability.  But having ASD does not automatically mean you have a learning disability.  The two things are not one and the same / synonymous with one another.

5) Autistic people are unsociable.  Well I'll give it you from my point of view.  I would really love to be sociable.  But I really struggle with social interaction - knowing what to say when and to who, how to respond to things.  So it's not that I'm unsociable, it's just I don't know how to be sociable.  I guess the other things would be that I really struggle in large groups (and this can be true for a lot of people with ASD).  This is probably I think because of the amount going on - so the sensory stimulation I'm getting.  It's just too much and my brain can't compute it, so I just withdraw and go quite.  And lastly, because I really have to think about literally every single response I make, when to respond and how to respond, it is TOTALLY exhausting.  So I often don't stay long, which can be seen as anti-social, but is just pure exhaustion.

6) Autistic people don't have empathy.  Not true.  We feel emotions and empathy for other people very deeply.  I think I said this in a previous post, but it is my experience that making eye contact is difficult for me because it's almost like 'a window to the soul', and it can be just painful.  And I mentioned this to a lecturer whilst at university who confirmed that this was in fact what the research was now showing - that autistic individuals don't look people in the eyes, not because they lack emotion, but because they'll see too much.  I guess the thing is we're not always good at expressing ourselves in a way that others understand or find empathetic.

7) All autistic people have a special talent / are geniuses / are savants.  If only!  I could have made my fortune counting cards at a casino 😂.  No, we're just regular people plodding along albeit there are some skills which the autistic brain is slightly better at e.g. attention to detail.

8) Autistic people can't live independently.  Hmm, someone should really have told me this before I moved into my flat 😂.  Nope again.  It does very much depend on the severity of the autism and also on whether the person also has any learning disabilities or other conditions alongside it.  But there are many many autistic people living fully independent lives.

Easy read

- Myth 1, 'Only boys can be autistic'.  False.  Girls can too, but they often mimic others and mask their autistic traits to hide the condition.

- Myth 2, 'You can get autism from a vaccine'.  False.  Rigorous testing has should there to be no link between autism and vaccines.  Autism has some strong genetics links.

- Myth 3, 'Autism can be cured'.  False.  It is not an illness that can be treatment with a medicine.  The brain is simply wired up differently.

- Myth 4, 'People with autism have learning disabilities'.  False.  It is possible to have both autism and a learning disability.  But it is equally possible to have autism with no learning disability.

- Myth 5, 'Autistic people are unsociable'.  False.  Autistic people often want to be sociable but find social interaction difficult and have to put a lot of effort and energy into it.  They may struggle due to overstimulation in large groups, and may find they reach their limit of interaction quickly due to the energy they are putting in.

- Myth 6, 'Autistic people don't have empathy'.  False.  Conversely, autistic people probably feel feelings of other people very deeply.  However, being able to show this in a meaningful way to others may not be so easy.

- Myth 7, 'All autistic people have a special talent / are geniuses / are savants'.  False. No, most autistic are just your average 'Joe Bloggs'

- Myth 8, 'Autistic people can't live independently'.  False.  Many autistic people live independent lives.

Mandarin Chinese

Wujie 1: “Zhi you nanhai cai hui you zibizheng.” Cuowu. Nühai ye keyi shi zibizheng, dan ta men changchang hui mofang bie ren, bing dui zi ji de zibizheng tezheng jin xing mask (yanzhuang), yi yin cang zhe zhong qingkuang.

Wujie 2: “Ni hui yin wei jiezhong yimiao er huan shang zibizheng.” Cuowu. Yanjin de kexue yanjiu yi jing chongfen zhengming, yimiao yu zibizheng zhi jian mei you guanlian. Zibizheng yu yichuan yin su you qiang lie de guanxi.

Wujie 3: “Zibizheng keyi bei zhi yu.” Cuowu. Zibizheng bu shi yi zhong keyi yong yaowu zhi liao de jibing. Zhi shi ren de na o gongzuo fangshi he da duo shu ren bu tong.

Wujie 4: “Huan you zibizheng de ren dou you xue xi zhang ai.” Cuowu. Yige ren ke yi tong shi you zibizheng he xue xi zhang ai. Dan tong yang ke yi zhi you zibizheng, er mei you xue xi zhang ai.

Wujie 5: “Zibizheng ren qun bu shan yu jiao ji.” Cuowu. Zibizheng ren changchang ye xiang he bie ren jiao wang, dan ta men ke neng jue de she jiao hu dong hen kun nan, bing qie xu yao tou ru da liang de nu li he neng liang. Zai ren shu hen duo de qun ti zhong, guo du ci ji ke neng hui rang ta men geng nan yi ying dui, er you yu ta men wei jiao wang tou ru le hen duo jing li, ta men ke neng hen kuai jiu da dao zi ji neng gou cheng shou de xian du.

Wujie 6: “Zibizheng ren mei you gongqingxin.” Cuowu. Xiang fan, zibizheng ren hen ke neng hui fei chang shen ke de gan shou dao bie ren de qing gan. Dan yao yong bie ren rong yi li jie de fang shi biao da chu zhe zhong gan shou, dui ta men lai shuo ke neng bing bu rong yi.

Wujie 7: “Suo you zibizheng ren dou you te shu cai neng / dou shi tian cai / dou shi savant.” Cuowu. Bu shi de. Da duo shu zibizheng ren jiu shi pu tong de “putong ren”.

Wujie 8: “Zibizheng ren bu neng du li sheng huo.” Cuowu. Xu duo zibizheng ren dou neng gou du li sheng huo.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Hindi                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

Galatfahmi 1: “Sirf ladke autistic ho sakte hain.” Galat. Ladkiyan bhi autistic ho sakti hain, lekin ve aksar doosron ki nakal karti hain aur apne autistic traits ko mask karti hain taaki condition chhupi rahe.

Galatfahmi 2: “Vaccine se autism ho sakta hai.” Galat. Kathor vaigyanik jaanchon se pata chala hai ki autism aur vaccines ke beech koi sambandh nahi hai. Autism ka genetics se majboot sambandh hai.

Galatfahmi 3: “Autism ko theek kiya ja sakta hai.” Galat. Yeh koi aisi beemari nahi hai jise dawa se theek kiya ja sake. Autism mein dimaag ka wiring pattern bas alag hota hai.

Galatfahmi 4: “Autistic logon mein learning disabilities hoti hain.” Galat. Kisi vyakti ko autism aur learning disability dono ho sakte hain. Lekin kisi vyakti ko autism ho sakta hai aur koi learning disability na ho.

Galatfahmi 5: “Autistic log unsociable hote hain.” Galat. Autistic log aksar doosron ke saath social hona chahte hain, lekin social interaction unke liye mushkil ho sakta hai aur ismein bahut saari mehnat aur energy lag sakti hai. Bade groups mein overstimulation ki wajah se unhe pareshani ho sakti hai, aur jo energy ve social interaction mein laga rahe hote hain, uski wajah se ve jaldi apni interaction limit tak pahunch sakte hain.

Galatfahmi 6: “Autistic logon mein empathy nahi hoti.” Galat. Iske vipreet, autistic log doosre logon ki feelings ko bahut gehraai se mehsoos kar sakte hain. Lekin in feelings ko doosron ke saamne meaningful tareeke se dikhana unke liye aasaan nahi ho sakta.

Galatfahmi 7: “Har autistic vyakti mein koi special talent hota hai / har autistic vyakti genius hota hai / sab savant hote hain.” Galat. Nahi, autistic logon mein se adhiktar bilkul aam log hote hain.

Galatfahmi 8: “Autistic log independently nahi reh sakte.” Galat. Bahut se autistic log independent zindagi jeete hain.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Spanish                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

Mito 1: “Solo los chicos pueden ser autistas.” Falso. Las chicas también pueden ser autistas, pero a menudo imitan a otras personas y ocultan sus rasgos autistas para esconder la condición.

Mito 2: “Puedes desarrollar autismo por una vacuna.” Falso. Las investigaciones científicas rigurosas han demostrado que no existe ningún vínculo entre el autismo y las vacunas. El autismo tiene una fuerte relación con la genética.

Mito 3: “El autismo se puede curar.” Falso. No es una enfermedad que pueda tratarse con medicamentos para hacer que desaparezca. Simplemente, el cerebro está conectado de una manera diferente.

Mito 4: “Las personas autistas tienen dificultades de aprendizaje.” Falso. Es posible tener autismo y una dificultad de aprendizaje al mismo tiempo. Pero también es perfectamente posible ser autista sin tener ninguna dificultad de aprendizaje.

Mito 5: “Las personas autistas son poco sociables.” Falso. Las personas autistas a menudo quieren relacionarse socialmente, pero pueden encontrar difícil la interacción social y tener que dedicarle mucho esfuerzo y energía. Pueden tener dificultades debido a la sobreestimulación en grupos grandes y pueden alcanzar rápidamente su límite de interacción debido a toda la energía que están empleando.

Mito 6: “Las personas autistas no tienen empatía.” Falso. Por el contrario, las personas autistas probablemente sienten las emociones de otras personas de una manera muy profunda. Sin embargo, mostrar esos sentimientos a los demás de una manera que puedan comprender fácilmente puede no resultar tan sencillo.

Mito 7: “Todas las personas autistas tienen un talento especial / son genios / son savants.” Falso. No. La mayoría de las personas autistas son simplemente personas normales y corrientes.

Mito 8: “Las personas autistas no pueden vivir de forma independiente.” Falso. Muchas personas autistas llevan vidas independientes.