Myths about Autism
Vaccines cause autism
False. The study that was published that claimed that vaccines cause autism is not true. The author later retracted his study, and many other studies have also proven his study wrong.
Only boys are affected by autism.
False. Autism affects all genders. However, they are affected differently making it easier for females to hide the impacts. More commonly, autistic girls are just seen as just being introverted, shy or anxious by the public. This still can happen even if they show the same symptoms as their male counterparts.
Children are the only ones with autism.
False. Autism can't be outgrown. Thus, those children who have autism grow up to be adults with autism. Some people are even diagnosed as adults.
There are average neurotypical things that all people with autism cannot do.
False. Like all people, those with autism have a large variety of strengths and weaknesses. This means that in a group if just given a status of all the people, you couldn't pick out who has autism and who doesn't.
All people with autism are good at math
False. This is a sterotype created by the media. There are some people with autism that are good at math and some people that are also not so good at math.
Autism is contagious.
False. You can not catch autism from someone who has it. Autism can't be spread between people.
Autistic persons experience emotion.
True. Even if someone with autism has problems verbalizing or explaining their emotions, they still experience a full range of emotions. This also means that they understand and can internalize all comments made about them.
People with autism process things differently.
True. Loud, bright and/or sudden stimulus can often lead to high anxiety or an emotional meltdown.