1. People with autism don’t experience empathy.
This is probably one of the most harmful myths about autism, since it leads neurotypical people to believe that people with autism cannot form emotional human bonds or understand emotions. In reality, people with autism have trouble expressing their emotions to others, but do not have trouble feeling emotions or understanding that others feel emotions. People with a flawed understanding of autism often mistake difficulty communicating for a lack of empathy. People with autism might also have trouble picking up on emotions that you are communicating subtly through your tone of voice or facial expression. In order to communicate your emotions to someone with autism, you must articulate your feelings directly rather than implying them.
2. It is obvious if someone has autism.
Especially in mild cases, it can be very difficult for the average person to tell if someone has autism. This is why autism, even with the help of modern medicine, often goes undiagnosed. This myth is harmful for people with “invisible” autism, since they might have trouble seeking out accomodations or treatment for their autism due to the non-obvious nature of their disorder.
3. People with autism can’t become friends with neurotypical people.
While people with autism might not be experts at picking up social cues, this does not mean that they don’t enjoy or can’t effectively participate in social interaction. People with autism can have wonderful, fulfilling friendships with people who don’t have autism, especially if the person without autism knows to communicate with their friend with autism in a more frank and direct manner than they would with a neurotypical person.
4. Autism is a new disorder.
Actually, it is unclear how long autism has existed, but the first written record of it occurred in 1799. Unfortunately, for most of autism’s history, people with moderate to severe autism were cast out of society and often misdiagnosed and mistreated. This means that any records of diagnoses of autism are unreliable. The one thing that the scientific community can know for sure is that autism has existed for hundreds of years.
5. Autism doesn’t have any physical symptoms.
Autism is more than just a mental disorder. Many people with autism have problems with mobility, and gastro-intestinal disorders and allergies are much more common among people with autism.