Autism Awareness: Myth Busting

April is World Autism Acceptance Month! It's a time to really celebrate, amplify, and listen to autistic voices.

For too long, conversations about autism have been dominated by non-autistic perspectives, leading to damaging myths, stereotypes, and misunderstandings. From outdated research to media misrepresentations, these misconceptions shape public perceptions, create barriers, and fuel discrimination.

In this blog, Cerys and Hannah are using their experiences to challenge some myths head-on. Through candid conversation, they will explore why they exist, how they impact autistic people, and why even so-called "positive" stereotypes can be harmful.

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"Perhaps people don’t want to admit that they are wrong – especially if that means accepting that they have potentially done harm to autistic folks in their lives."

Hannah: Why do you think there are so many myths out there about autism?

Cerys: Unfortunately, I think that – like with most disabilities – society has talked about us rather than to us. This means that perspectives and opinions of ‘what autism is’ is informed by non-autistic people.

I think it goes even further than this, however. I think that the people who talked ‘about’ autism until recently – even autistic people’s advocates – have discussed it in terms of ‘curing’ or ‘changing’ autistic people to abide by neurotypical norms and behaviours. This has meant that, whilst advocates stood ‘for us’, they’ve stood in the way of our story, our narratives, and our truths, instead representing their opinions as fact.

In this respect I always think about the dodgy narratives about autism I’ve seen swirling around – from academic research, to charity spiels, to behavioural therapies. Don’t even get me started on the lack of research (until more recently) about autism in women and non-binary folks. A consistent male-focused lens on autism has led to far too many myths, misconceptions, and false narratives about autism in the wider population.

Hannah: Why are these myths so damaging?

Cerys: Myths about autism are exceptionally damaging because they impact all aspects of our lives. Misconceptions fuel stigma, which fuels discrimination, which fuels harm. This constant cycle of damage shrouds autistic people’s lives.

Myths and stereotypes mean that we are expected to perform to certain standards – for example, the perpetuating stereotype that autistic people are ‘maths geniuses’. I can tell you one thing for certain: I am horrendous at maths, always have been, always will be. It just does not float my boat. Whilst some autistic people will be whizzes, there as just as many non-autistic people that are whizzes. Even ‘positive’ stereotypes are harmful, because they create expectations that people cannot meet.

Myths also create barriers: barriers to employment, to healthcare, to housing, to benefits, to support. The list truly goes on. If you have stereotypes that inform people’s opinions of you before you’ve even met them, how are you ever going to get through the door without a stereotype walking in before you? How will you ever be seen for you? How will you ever get the chance to be you?

Hannah: What one thing would you like people to learn from this?

Cerys: People truly need to understand that even ‘positive’ myths are harmful and damaging. Setting unrealistic expectations, creating narratives about someone rather than coming from that person, and perpetuating these issues is a vicious cycle. This is not to mean that they are worse than ‘negative’ myths – as that is up for contention – however, myths full stop are myths for a reason: because they are fictional, biased, and told by people who have never ‘seen’ the thing they are talking about.

Before you talk about autism, speak to an autistic person. What do we have to say? What do we want to say? What do we want people to stop saying?

Nothing about us, without us.

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Cerys: what is your least favourite myth about autism and why? I know it’s hard to choose!

Hannah: Goodness, that is tough as there are so many and they all really frustrate me! I think that the worst, overarching misconception, is that autism is some sort of mental health disorder or disease. Now, that’s not helped by the fact that it is found in the DSM-5 and is clinically still recognised as Autism Spectrum Disorder, so you can understand why people think those things.

The fact that, in the States, it is the CDC – the Centre (Center!) for Disease Control and Prevention, that deals with all things autism is horrifying and further adds to this misinformation. For me, as long as society sees autism as some sort of ‘disorder’, ‘condition’ or ‘problem’, autistic folks are always going to be treated poorly and misunderstood.

Fundamentally, we need to move to seeing being autistic for what it is, having a different neurotype, an alternative way of experiencing and processing the world. A difference, which can be disabling in a world that isn’t designed with us in mind, but which doesn’t make us any worse, or better, than anyone else.

Cerys: why do you think there’s so many myths about autism?

Hannah: Honestly, I find it hard to fathom, because the facts which bust the myths are out there if people bother to look. I think that, yes, there is a lot of misinformation out there, and that doesn’t help, but we seem perfectly able to spot ‘fake news’ in other areas of life and apply a level of common-sense fact-checking to others things. So honestly, it’s a little baffling that so many people refuse to challenge their own ideas when it comes to autism. It feels as though it is still a huge taboo, and that no one wants to look too closely. Perhaps people don’t want to admit that they are wrong – especially if that means accepting that they have potentially done harm to autistic folks in their lives. Perhaps because if we got rid of the stereotypes, people would actually feel obligated to do things differently, and that might take some work. That sounds very negative, but I honestly don’t understand the refusal to learn from autistic experiences and challenge the things we ‘know’ as the myths that they very clearly are.

Cerys: what motivates you to share your own truth about autism to help dispel the myths?

Hannah: For me, it’s obviously personal. Being autistic, I want other people to understand me, and hopefully help make the world a friendly and safer place for me. But it’s also personal in a different way, because I didn’t have access to authentic autistic stories and narratives growing up, which meant I didn’t understand myself for such a long time. I grew up with very limited and inaccurate information about what it means to be autistic, surrounded by the myths and stereotypes. Sadly, they still exist, but at least if we are creating a counterbalance to those, in terms of real lived-experience narratives, then it might start to turn the tables and move us to a place of better understanding.

There are so many amazing autistic voices out there now, sharing their experiences and challenging the existing and faulty narrative, and that is brilliant to see. Hopefully these will gradually be able to drown out the outdated, disproven and debunked myths and move us towards a world where we are genuinely listened to, understood and believed.