Myths About Autism

You must have heard the all-too-often repeated myth that vaccines cause autism. It doesn’t stop there. The faulty information that’s spread about autism is worth knowing. Listen here. 

Transcript

Myths About Autism

I would guess that whether you’re autistic or know someone who is you’ve heard rumors and myths about autism and that they’re presented as facts. So how do you know that what you’re hearing is true? Keep listening as I talk about some of the more common myths about autism.

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In this episode I’ll talk about the most common myths about autism. We hear these frequently and the sad part is that the people perpetuating them actually believe, without evidence, that these are truths. Families, friends and some professionals repeat these. Even some autistics are convinced. 

Let’s start with one of the most widely heard myths about autism. 

That it’s caused by vaccines - this continues to be a belief even though it’s been dispelled repeatedly. The doctor who popularized this idea later lost his medical license because his research was bogus. This myth is dangerous because parents have withheld vaccines on the basis of faulty research.

Some parents believe that stopping vaccines can lessen the “severity” or even reverse the symptoms.

That it’s caused by refrigerator mothers - there has never been anything supporting this idea. Mostly it was touted by doctors who didn’t know enough about autism and who were eager to blame the mother and be done with it. Many doctors convinced parents that their autistic child should be institutionalized.

Levels of autism, high functioning vs. low - This persists to this day even among highly intelligent, accomplished people. If you mask and appear that you function at the same or similar level to a neurotypical you are called high functioning. If you can hold down a job, if you have an advanced education, if you are a doctor, lawyer, architect, professor, etc you must be high functioning. 

Some people, including autistics, use the term high functioning to delineate between the term autistic and those autistics who also have intellectual disabilities. I’ve used the term high functioning myself.

A similar myth is that If you have intellectual disabilities you are autistic and you are low-functioning. If you need support you are low functioning. If you are non-verbal you are low functioning.

In diagnostic criteria, levels 1,2,3 - this may in some way perpetuate the levels idea. Based on the DSM doctors characterize autistics in three levels; 1 needs support; 2 needs substantial support; 3 needs very substantial support

There’s a myth: 

That so-called high-functioning autistics don’t need support or need minimal support - personally I could use daily support. I could use someone to talk to about how to communicate socially. It would help to have a support person who could make appointments for me. I honestly put them off way past a safe point before I can force myself to call and set up an appointment. I prefer online appointment systems however it still means I have to show up.

I could use assistance with something as simple as going to an arts festival or some other semi-social event. I won’t go rather than deal with the awkwardness of looking comfortable in that setting. 

I appreciate that there are grocery delivery services and places that will deliver clothes and other things I need. It frees me from having to go shopping, looking at everything there and deciding what to get. Shopping takes a lot of energy and social communication and I am glad I to avoid that.

I would love to have support with housework and other tedious, draining things. Maybe neurotypicals feel that way too. For awhile I wouldn’t cook because it required cleaning up afterwards. I’ve gotten better now. It still uses a lot of energy. 

My family often questions me about going to the store and tells me that I need to. I don’t see their reasoning.

My eyeglasses are so scratched up that I shouldn’t be wearing them but I haven’t brought myself to finding and then making an appointment with an ophthalmologist or optometrist.

I could have used support in school, particularly college, so I could have understood how that whole system works and gained some study and writing skills.

That autistics can’t work - many autistics are employed, some have part-time work and a percentage don’t work. This isn’t due to a lack of ability or intelligence. Autistics who mask may be able to have full-time jobs. It will ultimately take a toll since masking uses so much energy.

That autistics are incapable of living alone - we know that’s not true. Some prefer not to, some can’t and others, many others live on their own with some preferring it.

That autistics want to be and should be neurotypical - they may exist and yet, I haven’t met an autistic person who wants to be neurotypical. For one thing we don’t know that it’s better than being autistic. For another we’re fine with who we are. It’s all we’ve ever known.

That it’s a tragedy to have an autistic child - I know parents who upon finding out their child is autistic are horrified in their words. They think of many of these myths. They imagine the worst. I feel like this is due to a lack of knowledge about autism. If we could dispel the myths and educate people less would be afraid of it.

That only males are autistic - This was the thinking for decades. Females weren’t even considered for diagnosis. The women who went through the process did not show the typical male symptoms or characteristics so they were missed. Recognition of female autism is increasing.

That only children are autistic - this is the belief that autism is seen only in children as well as the idea that in order to be autistic you must have had symptoms when you were a child. My family would not have noticed symptoms. Instead they said I was too sensitive, too shy, that I overanalyze, that I don’t stand up for myself, that I’m not friendly, etc. 

I remember my mother telling me I shouldn’t be selfish because I didn’t want another child to play with my dolls. I get it now that my dolls were my special interest then and so of course I wouldn’t share them.

I don’t believe my family would recognize autism traits now even if they were told about what to look for asked to remember from my childhood. They would most likely say I was like any other child.

That it SHOULD be cured - there are several groups including some with autistic children who believe that autism is a financial drain on society costing us hundreds of billions of dollars that could be saved if only we could find the cure. They believe research should be directed to finding a cure.

That it CAN be “cured” - this is similar to what I just said. It presumes that there is a cure all we have to do is find it. Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder meaning it’s how our brains are wired. I don’t know of any way to rewire an autistic brain. I don’t know whether autistic people would want their brains to be rewired to be neurotypical. The ones I’ve heard from are against that.

That diet or vitamins can cure it - there are parents  who actually believe this. They try various diets and all kinds of supplements and are firm about the results that their child was cured by using diet and vitamins. There is no scientific evidence that these can cure autism.

That you can grow out of it - some people believe autism is a disorder of children. I heard this about ADHD as well. Once a person reaches 18 I guess the body magically changes the brain into a normal one.

That ABA (Applied Behavioral Analysis) helps - wow, most autistics are against this and many find it abusive. ABA is based on the idea that forcing an autistic person or child to behave in a way that is considered “normal” will turn them into a “normal” person. It includes the idea that even if it doesn’t, at least an autistic person can learn to act like they’re normal because we don’t want them to act like themselves. Sometimes punishment or negative consequences are used to attempt to train their traits out of them. This has a profound effect on an autistic person’s self-esteem and view of the world.

That exposure therapy lessens sensory sensitivities - I hear this so often. Let’s just play recordings of loud noises and the person will get used to them and it won’t bother them any more. It’s well known that autistic senses don’t habituate. No matter how many times I hear a leaf blower it will still affect my nervous system and cause pain. In fact, I feel like I have less tolerance for unpleasant sounds than I used to.

My parents punished me to get me to eat foods I don’t like. I lost a lot of weight and became malnourished as a result because I literally could not eat some foods. We saw a doctor but it didn’t make a difference in what I was required to eat. Into my teen years I was still trying to sneak food into a napkin or feed it to the dog when no one was looking. 

That all autistics are savants - Some people believe all autistics must be savants in order to be autistic. Apparently savants typically have an IQ around 70 except in the area where they are savants and there it’s much higher. This explains one reason autistics hide because of the bias that surrounds IQ, ability and autism.

That all autistics have intellectual disabilities - Of course if we don’t then we are high functioning right? Not all autistics don’t have intellectual disabilities, in fact, I dare say that is the minority. An intellectual disability is a co-occurring condition not a criteria. I’ve talked with people who believe that the very definition of an autistic person is someone with a low IQ.

That all autistics are non-verbal - if you are non-verbal you are autistic which is not the case. If you are autistic you are non-verbal. Not the case. If you are autistic you might be non-verbal as well. True. Some of us have selective mutism which means we can’t speak when we are under certain pressures or stresses. When that stress is removed we can.

Autistics are dangerous - If one autistic commits a notorious crime we are all put in the same box. It must be autism that caused it so people think. All kinds of people commit crimes and all kinds don’t. Autism doesn’t turn us into criminals.

That everyone is a little bit autistic - I think most if not every autistic has heard this one. Truthfully I don’t even know what it means. I can’t even picture what a little bit autistic would look like.

That autistics don’t want friends - the autistics I have talked to all want to have friends. Sometimes expressing a desire for friends during an evaluation can result in a diagnosis of no autism. 

That autistics don’t get lonely - this is similar. Yes, most of us like and appreciate alone time. We also need people and without them we feel lonely. That doesn’t mean we can go out and be with people but it doesn’t lessen our need for them that we can’t. We get lonely even though we can’t always do anything about it. We wish we could.

Self-diagnosis is not valid - because there are so few who can diagnose autism in women adults, it’s extremely difficult for a woman, particularly in the US (as opposed to the UK) to get a diagnosis. Symptoms and traits can hardly be ignored since they affect an autistic so profoundly. A female’s only choice may be to self-diagnose which can help her understand herself and make choices about her life for her benefit. 

Evaluators who diagnose children can just as easily diagnose adults - this is similar. Evaluators who only have experience with children are the same ones who attempt to diagnose adults. Unfortunately they look for the criteria of a child and try to apply it to an adult and it won’t work. Autistics often mask and have become really good at it by the time they’re an adult. They have learned to ignore symptoms or write them off as “I just don’t like it.” There are some genres of music I don’t like and now I understand it’s the way the sound affects my nervous system. Some instruments are unpleasant and some keys trigger pain. It’s not that I don’t like that type of music per se.

Adult services are easily accessed - I used an autism resources search and found nothing within 100 miles that offers services or resources to autistic adults. I understand that in the UK a person can wait years and often does, to be diagnosed. In the US insurance doesn’t cover evaluations and diagnosis. The cost is high, running from $3500 to over $10,000. 

If you’re not diagnosed as autistic you are not autistic - a person is considered neurotypical until they are diagnosed. I find this interesting because that same person has not been diagnosed as neurotypical. It’s also counterintuitive that a person “becomes” autistic once someone says they are.

That all research about autism is valid - so many so-called theories have been dispelled or discredited. Often it’s because the results of one study cannot be replicated. At other times it’s because we have better ways to see the brain, as with brain scans. 

Testosterone in the womb does not cause autism nor do vaccines. Autistics don’t have extreme male brains. 

These are the more common myths about autism, the ones we often hear. You may know others. Myths stem from a lack of knowledge and a lack of interest in understanding. 

Listen to other episodes to learn more about how the autistic brain works. Reach out to me by email at info@theautisticwoman.com. Tell your family and friends about the podcast so others can learn what it’s like to be autistic. 

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Thank you for listening!

This has been Meet My Autistic Brain. I’m The Autistic Woman. Slava Ukraine!