There are many myths associated with autism or the neural development disorder. The myths may or may not be true. A concerned parent should always look forward to checking the facts and the developments made in the related field. Mentioned below are some of the common myths that are associated with autism..
Autism is not a ’spectrum’ disorder.A spectrum disorder is one which includes a broad range of symptoms. One of the popular misconceptions about autism is that it is not a spectrum disorder, i.e., the severity of the problem is same in all the persons suffering from it. However, the fact is that people with autism can be very autistic or little autistic, meaning its characteristics vary significantly from person to person. For instance, a person who is very autistic can be suffering from verbal disabilities. On the other hand, some other person who is only a little autistic may have no cognition or verbal problems. If you know one person with autism, it means that you know ‘only’ one person with autism. The limitations and capabilities of one autistic person cannot be used as an indication to determine the limitations and capabilities of other autistic people.Asperger’s syndrome is different from autism.Asperger’s syndrome is not different from autism. It is the high functioning form of autism. It is considered to be a part of the autism spectrum. The only noticeable difference between Asperger’s syndrome and high functioning autism is that people with autism usually suffer from speech delays, whereas, people with Asperger’s syndrome usually develop speech right on time.Autism can be cured.Another popular myth associated with autism is that it can be cured completely. The fact is that there are a number of treatments for autism, but at present there is no cure for it. But, this does not mean that people with autism cannot improve, in fact, some of them improve radically. It has been observed that children and adults with autism can significantly improve their ability to form meaningful connections and communicate with friends and family. But, they are still autistic even when they increase their skills, which means that they have a different way of thinking and perceiving the world when compared with others. The available treatments may be sensory, developmental, biomedical, behavioral, or even arts-based.Children can ‘outgrow autism’.One popular belief that most of us have regarding autism is that children leave behind autism as they mature. But, the fact is that autism is usually a lifelong condition, and children rarely outgrow autism. However, symptoms may decrease significantly, especially for those people who receive attention in the early stages. This relief in symptoms is often misunderstood for ‘outgrowth’ from autism. They can learn to cope with their difficulties and even build on their unique strengths, they can learn to communicate with friends and family, but this will certainly not affect the fact that people with autism will remain autistic for their entire lives.Children with autism should be admitted to ’special’ schools.We often hear that children with autism do really well in a particular type of classroom setting where the other students are also facing the same problems. But, this opinion can’t be further from the fact, because a given setting cannot be perfect for every child with autism. Every child with autism has his/her own unique needs which may be quite different from others, so the existence of one setting that can satisfy the needs of every individual is certainly out of question.Autistic people do not have strengths and abilities.You may be of the opinion that autism makes a person useless. They are certainly not as good as most of the ‘normal’ people when it comes to expressing feelings and communicating with others, however, this does not mean that autistic people do not have any strengths or abilities. The fact is that a person with autism has many things to offer to the world. In fact, people with autism are among the most non-judgmental, forthright, and passionate people you will ever meet. Their abilities are unique in their own ways, which makes them ideal for many types of careers. In many fields, they perform better than so-called ‘normal’ people.People with autism are all same.Most people develop a specific type of opinion about people with autism, which makes them think autism ‘looks alike’. However, people suffering from autism are quite different from each other, for instance, some of them may be introverts, while others may be chatty. Many of them only have social communication delays, whereas, some of them can even have sensory issues, sleep difficulties, and other medical problems. Autism never shows the same symptoms in every person suffering from it. You need to understand that one autistic person is completely different from other, and so are their requirements. Some of them need an environment where they can establish better relationship with others, while others may have a completely different set of requirements.The causes of autism are known.Well, there are many theories about the possible causes of autism, but there is no consensus. These theories range from the age of parents to the mercury in infant vaccines, to genetic and almost everything else. Often bad parenting is also held responsible for autism. According to these myths, autism is caused by mothers who lack emotional warmth. However, studies have shown that there is absolutely no connection between a mother’s emotional warmth and autism. In fact, it has been found in most of the cases that the parents were absolutely ‘normal’. At present, most researchers are of the opinion that autism is caused by a combination of environmental and genetic factors. Also, it may be possible that the causes of one person’s symptoms are different from others’.Families can easily deal with autism.It may appear that families of autism patients can easily manage the situation, but the fact is that such families need help and support from others as autism can have a strong emotional effect on the entire family. Families may be under a lot of stress. These families certainly require all the non-judgmental help they can get from relatives, friends, and service providers.
