Over the years, the public has gained a better understanding of what autism is and how it comes into being. With this understanding comes a growing sense of acceptance within the autism community. There is a downside, however, to this influx of information and that is the integration of misinformation. The development of myths and misconceptions stems for the most part from knowledge of the existence of the disorder in tandem with a lack of knowledge of what exactly the disorder is.

 

       Vaccines cause autism. This phrase appears on protest banners and blog headers of anti-vaxxers everywhere. A participant in my survey nicely summed up the general opinion: “I believe that they can put things in your system that cause it”. It would be difficult to find an individual who believes that doctors are intentionally injecting their children with autism, but the idea that the perceived risks of vaccines outweigh the rewards is becoming more and more common with the power of social media. And yet, such a broadly used statement could not be more wrong. The irrational fear of autism-infecting vaccines originates from a study done by a British surgeon named Andrew Wakefield that posited that the vaccine against measles, mumps, and rubella caused autism in young children. The published study was reproached as scientifically and ethically invalid and Wakefield’s medical license was revoked. The damage, however, had already been done. Even twenty-two years later, after Wakefield had been exposed as a fraud and his study debunked as paranoid mumbo-jumbo, his impact on the legitimacy of vaccines lives on (Rao et.al).

 

       Autistic people feel little to no emotion. I believe that this misconception is born mostly from a lack of understanding of how autistic people communicate. One survey participant responded with uncertainty, stating “Maybe because of their brain functionality”. This idea is actually close to the truth. Autistic people feel just as much as the next person but have a difficult time appropriately expressing that emotion because of the functionality of their brains. Another participant also only slightly missed the mark, agreeing “Yes because they don't understand as much”. This is correct in that autistic people often struggle to understand the emotions of themselves and others and thus communicating or addressing those emotions. A lack of understanding, however, does not indicate a lack of existence.

 

       Autistic people are more prone to violence. There is a lot to be said about the implications of this kind of thinking. Entering an interaction with someone with the preconceived notion that they are programmed to behave violently shapes the course of the interaction. When an individual has already decided that someone is prone to violence, every social cue is more likely to be perceived as aggressive and will, in turn, inculcate feelings of fear and opposition. The surveyed field that believes in this myth seems to sit in two camps: “Autistic people have less control over their emotions which makes them more violent” and the more uncertain side of “It depends on the type of autism”. To the credit of the second camp, the idea of different “types” of autism was valid about a decade ago; However, Asperger’s Syndrome (i.e. the “other” autism) was recently added to the umbrella term of Autism Spectrum Disorder. It is true that most people on the spectrum have a difficult time deciphering and coping with strong emotions, but this does not necessarily translate into innate violence. In truth, autistic people are less likely to behave intentionally violent than others because of an increased sense of empathy (Ghaziuddin).

 

       All autistic people are savants. This stereotype has been perpetuated by characters in the media such as Raymond from Rain Man and Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory. One survey participant responded “I have heard many stories about autistic people who are very gifted and have special talents, and I think this is because their brains work in a different way than ‘normal’ people which allows them to be like this”. This idea of Savant Syndrome in autistic people is actually close to the truth. Autistic people are not more prone to Savant Syndrome than anyone else (Treffert). They do, however, often display a characteristic called “Special Interests” (SI’s). A SI is an interest in a particular object or subject that monopolizes one’s thoughts and actions, bordering on obsession. The most common SI trope is that of a young, white autistic boy who has seen every episode of Thomas the Tank Engine and loves it so much that he owns bedsheets with the characters on them. SI’s are more complicated than an affinity for animated trains. Topics can range from rare ichthyology to the neighbors dog. When an autistic people has a SI, all they want to do is to learn more about that thing. An autistic adult who solves the impossible P vs. NP wasn’t born a math genius. She acquired math as an SI and studied mathematics day and night for fifteen years (Hass).

 

       There is an autism epidemic. Surprisingly, almost all of the survey participants disagreed with this myth. Those who agreed gave no explanation for their reasoning. Over the past few years, the number of people being diagnosed with autism is steadily increasing. This is attributed to a better understanding of the signs and better access to diagnosis ("Data & Statistics on Autism Spectrum Disorder”).

 

       Autism can be cured. Currently, there is a no cure for autism. All participants of the survey were aware of this fact though some presented the idea that there will be some sort of treatment for the brain in the future. In the autism community, the debate is not so much about whether or not autism can be cured, but rather whether or not it should be cured (Ratner). Autism is a developmental disorders that affects one’s communication, motor abilities, sensory interpretation, and learning.

 

       Bad parenting causes autism. One survey participant replied, “Yes. We are partly the product of our parents”. They are not entirely wrong. An autistic person is autistic from the day they are born until the day that they die. The way a person is brought up cannot cause them to become autistic. One’s parents do, however, influence how we deal with and overcome challenges in our lives. An autistic person who grows up in a supportive household with encouraging parents who teach them problem-solving and emotional management skills might live a fairly normal, well-adjusted life. A similar child, growing up in a stressful environment with parents who ignore their child’s struggles and cause them to develop habits of emotional-suppression and provide no support for alternative styles of learning, is more likely to have difficulty functioning in society (Amsel).

 

       Autism is a mental illness. This myth is complicated. The Mayo Clinic defines mental illness as “disorders that affect your mood, thinking and behavior”. The majority of survey participants believe that autism is a mental illness because it affects the brain and how someone thinks or behaves. Taken at face value, this definition does describe some of the effects of autism; however, it does not cover every aspect and therefore is not an accurate description. To simply define autism as a mental illness is to limit our understanding of it. Other participants stated that they classify autism as a mental illness because that is what they have been told by the scientific community. Some scientists may see the label of mental illness as fitting for the condition with no drawbacks in terms of the limitations of it. Again, this myth is complicated. It exists in a grey zone of opinion and partial facts.

 

       As the general awareness of the existence of autism increases, so does the general misinformation. The sudden wave of information has been overwhelming for the general public and often fact gets mixed with fiction. These myths and misconceptions thrive when we are unable to or unwilling to assess for ourselves the validity of the information we receive.