Day 21: Dispel a Myth About Autism

There are so many. I’ll take on a few.

1.     They have no empathy – autistic people, by the origin of the word autism (form of Greek autos- "self" + -ismos suffix of action or of state), are thought to be locked up in themselves and have no empathy and cannot connect with or bond to their parents. They actually are quite empathetic. Here is a Scientific American article on the topic. In short, they do not express emotions like the rest of us learn to. Emotional expression is a form of communication – we read it from others’ body language, facial expressions, tone of voice. Because some of them do not learn to wear their heart on their sleeve, we have to find other ways to read their emotions and encourage them to learn to verbalize it. I recently read an amusing post by an #actuallyautistic person who explained he even apologized to inanimate objects and plants!

2.     Their condition is caused by unsympathetic mothers – this was actually a belief at one point. Mothers who did not bond with their children were called “refrigerator mothers” because they were cold to their infants and this was the cause of the child’s inward turning, according to Leo Kanner. If that were true, it fails to explain the mothers and fathers who work very hard for their autistic children. This myth caused so many mothers grief, guilt and despair, and unfortunately the attitude continues.

3.     Autism is caused by vaccinations – don’t get me started. This idea has been disproven countless times, but Paul Wakefield and a portion of the population still hold on to the idea like some do chemtrails or the idea that UFOs regularly land in Accord, NY. Celebrities like Jenny McCarthy didn’t help. Furthermore, the #actuallyautistic community takes great offense to the idea that their unique condition is caused by a poisoning.

There are many more out there. Exposing the moldy, pernicious and harmful ideas to the sunlight of rational examination and similarly allowing the seeds of truth to germinate is the best way to dispel the nonsense. Research things, talk to parents of autistic children, credible doctors and – very importantly – #actuallyautistic people.