18 autism spectrum disorder myths doctors wish you’d stop believing

“Autism may be confusing to both ordinary people and professionals because some of its behavioural characteristics remind those of other, more common and better-described conditions, such as ADHD, anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder and oppositional defiant disorder,” explains developmental psychologist Oksana Hagerty.

Newer brain research has moved from how we process concrete concepts like maths and language to how the brain manages with more abstract concepts that play a role in ASD – such as social and emotional intelligence. As neurologists gain a better understanding of the brain, they’re able to debunk more and more myths about autism. These are the outdated beliefs doctors wish people would stop believing.

Some people assume that autism leaves a person incapable of experiencing true emotions. But autism is a spectrum disorder, and people may express a range of emotions from excitement to anger, whereas others are more restricted in their expression. But individuals with ASD can undoubtedly recognise and feel emotions from others, regardless of how they express it. According to an article in Paediatric Health, Medicine, and Therapeutics, most children with ASD are able to recognise emotions comparable to their same-age peers by matching them. They can often label simpler feelings, like happiness and sadness, though they can struggle to identify emotions like surprise and fear, explains paediatrician Dr Tamara Bugembe.

It’s no secret that social impairments affect individuals on the autism spectrum. Those on the spectrum may find it difficult to develop relationships with their peers due to a combination of a delayed ability for spontaneous sharing, communication delays and an impaired ability to recognise subtleties in facial expressions, body posture and eye contact. However, this has no bearing on an individual’s desire to progress in social relationships and settings. Instead, an individual with autism often feels so uncomfortably out of place in social situations that he or she would rather avoid them until they learn the proper tools to progress. According to the US Foundation for Autism Support and Training, some may “find it threatening to be in crowds or groups of people because they may have difficulty reading another person’s facial expressions, and as a result, may misinterpret another person’s intentions.” But this doesn’t reflect one’s desire for support, understanding and friendship. “Many teenagers I see in my clinic seemed happy in their own company when they were younger but craved friendships and relationships as they got older. They tell me that they want to make friends but do not know how to go about making them or maintaining them,” says Dr Bugembe.

“Some children find it hard to express themselves effectively with words and resort to using violent behaviour to let us know that they need our attention, some help or even a break from a situation,” says Dr Bugembe. But they’re more likely to hurt themselves than others, according to a French study. Researchers found that the more anxiety-provoking the situation children found themselves in, the higher the chance of self-injurious behaviour in individuals with autism. Children with autism have impaired coping strategies and communication skills that might help them manage anxiety – but they tend to perform self-injurious behaviours, like picking their skin or head-banging, more often than inflicting harm on others. There’s a big difference between a child with ASD and a child who is a bully.

The movie Rain Man is possibly the most famous portrayal of an individual with autism, but it’s unfortunately led to an unrealistic perception of the disorder. In fact, about 10 per cent of those on the spectrum are considered to have savant abilities, compared to one per cent of those not on the spectrum. While researchers aren’t sure why savant abilities are more common in people with autism, one theory is that abnormal brain development plays a role. According to Dr Hagerty, “recent discoveries in cognitive science and neuroscience suggest that various human faculties (often called ‘intelligences’) are essentially independent. In other words, somebody gifted, say, in mathematics, may or may not possess an impaired ability to access, understand and act on one’s own feelings and emotions and those of other people.”

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Along with the ‘savant’ myth is an equally false yet widespread perception that people on the spectrum have an intellectual disability. According to Educating Children with Autism by the US National Research Council, many children on the autism spectrum are able to use their intelligence to compensate for shortcomings in abilities. Society’s strong emphasis on social and emotional ability may be part of the reason people hang on to this myth, says Dr Hagerty. “The ability to understand emotions and feelings is almost a must-have of any social expansion,” says Dr Hagerty.

A fraudulent study by British doctor Andrew Wakefield gave life to this dangerous belief, even though the research has been retracted. “Each family has a unique experience with an autism diagnosis, and for some, it corresponds with the timing of their child’s vaccinations,” explains clinical psychologist  and chief science officer of US Autism Speaks, Thomas Frazier. “Over the last two decades, there has been extensive research to determine whether there is a link between childhood vaccinations and autism. The [result] of this research is that vaccines do not cause autism.” This myth has been debunked over and over again.

Genetic and early brain development changes that influence autism “start to happen when your child is in the womb and are not affected by parenting styles as the children grow,” explains Dr Bugembe. This report indicates that some individuals with ASD may be more susceptible as a foetus or after birth to environmental factors. A paper published in Current Pharmaceutical Design suggests a combination of factors may be at play: an environmental stimulus and genetic or epigenetic predisposition, combined with biome depletion. In other words, bad parenting didn’t bring on autism. It can certainly make matters worse, but it won’t cause a child to develop autism. Unfortunately, this is a myth that puts a lot of unnecessary stress on parents of children with the disorder.

Dr Hagerty provides insight: “Autistic individuals may come across as uncaring and selfish and they do struggle with seeing another person’s perspective, but they are not psychopaths. In fact, they are known to have an innate sense of justice, which is a deeper and more abiding marker of empathy than, say, contagious yawning.” In contrast, those with high-functioning forms of autism can sense and feel the emotions of others so strongly that they struggle to cope with those feelings. Autistic individuals are far from selfish and uncaring, but they often lack the ability to show that they care in the ways their typically developing peers would expect.

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About 1 in 150 Australians has Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), according to healthdirect.gov.au. The characteristics of ASD usually start in infancy but may not be noticeable until the age of 2 or 3 years.

The number of Australians diagnosed with autism increased by 42 per cent between 2012 and 2015, reported SBS in a news story in 2017, but research and advocacy groups are adamant it’s not a cause for alarm. Professor Andrew Whitehouse, Senior Principal Research Fellow at the University of Western Australia’s Telethon Kids Institute, said that Australia’s autism diagnosis rate was now in line with other countries at around 1.1 per cent.

“All the evidence that we have to date is showing that the rise in the number of kids and adults being diagnosed with autism is due to increased awareness, not just at the health professional side, but also at the family side,” Professor Whitehouse told SBS.