Top 5 Myths About Autism - Debunked!

This could not be further from the truth. Autism is a spectrum; and while it’s true that many of those who have autism are nonverbal and / or afflicted with an intellectual disability, that doesn’t mean that they are incapable of achieving great things in their lives. In fact, many people with autism have average IQs and have shown that they can excel in a variety of personal, professional and creative pursuits. We won’t beat around the bush, autism presents a world of limitations to those afflicted by it, but to dismiss their potential would be nothing short of ignorant.

We know, anti-vaxxers have their arguments… but when we start seeing cases of diseases that we had previously all but eliminated, well, it’s time to start re-evaluating your priorities. There’s only ever been one study that connected autism to vaccines, and its findings were deemed suspect, before finally being retracted in 2010. The doctor behind this 1998 study, Andrew Wakefield, was accused of fraud and had his right to practice revoked. Any subsequent attempts to establish a correlation... have failed. When you get down to it, the case against this myth is ironclad, and yet, for whatever reason, people still continue to put stock in it, risking lives in the process.

The fact that this myth still prevails is truly shocking. Yes, people with autism can feel emotion; and guess what, they can express emotion too! From anger and fear to happiness and excitement, people with autism feel all the emotions that the rest of humanity feels; the only difference is that they communicate them in ways that may seem abnormal to the untrained eye. Additionally, people with autism can understand the emotions of others, but there are limitations. Because a symptom of the disorder is a difficulty with social interactions and communication, someone with autism is unlikely to detect emotions based solely on body language or tone of voice.

Everybody wants friends, including people with autism! While it can sometimes feel as if people with autism are shy or detached, it is simply a symptom of their disorder. Being unable to communicate properly would make anyone hesitant to spark up a conversation with someone they don’t know, so being sensitive when establishing a relationship with someone who is afflicted with autism is essential. As always, it’s important to keep in mind that people with autism express their emotions differently, so if at first they seem aloof or unfriendly don’t let that discourage you.

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: autism is a spectrum; and according to Michael Rosenthal, a pediatric neuropsychologist from the Child Mind Institute in New York City, "not every person on the spectrum will have a special talent” like that of Ray Babbitt in “Rain Man”. There is no one way to classify someone who is afflicted with the psychological disorder, as the effects vary from case to case. As such, you’d be wise to keep an open mind whenever you meet someone who has autism, because he or she may be able to do things that other people with autism cannot; and vice versa.