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AUTISM

WHAT IS AUTISM?

Autism is a developmental disability that is characterized by difficulty in social interaction and communication and by restricted or repetitive patterns of thought and behaviour.

WHAT ARE THE SIGNS OF AUTISM?

Finding it hard to understand what others are thinking or feeling
Repetitive behaviors like hand-flapping, rocking, jumping, or twirling
Taking things very literally – for example, having difficulty understanding sarcasm or metaphors
Over or under sensitivity to sounds, smells, touch,taste, light, colours and temperatures
Having the same routine every day and getting very anxious if it changes
Not understanding social "rules", such as not talking over people
Intense and highly-focused interests, often from a fairly young age
Avoiding eye contact
Seeming rude, blunt or not interested in others without meaning to
AUTISM MYTHS

autistic people cannot feel love and they do not care about other people = this is false. autistic people can and do feel love and they do care about other people. they may just express it differently. an autistic person not expressing love and affection in ways that most people are expected does not mean they do not care. they may find expressing their feelings difficult, or they may be uncomfortable with physical affection such as hugging. this does not mean they do not care
autism is a mental illness or a disease = this is false. autism is a developmental disability, not an illness or a disease. mental illnesses develop, and although can be passed through genetics, are not present from birth, unlike autism.
autism is not a disease either, because it is not contagious and cannot be "caught". autism is not a sickness or illness. it is not a bad thing and it cannot be cured.
don't say autistic, say with autism/suffering with autism/living with autism = this is false and extremely harmful.
contrary to popular belief, autistic (identity-first language) is mostly preferred by autistic people and with autism/suffering from autism/living with autism (person-first language) is considered harmful and the majority of the autistic community are against it.

this is because saying autistic people have autism or live with autism implies that autism is extractable from the autistic individual, which is false. autism impacts autistic people every moment of their entire lives. autism never goes away, autistic people are autistic from the moment they are born until the moment they die. it impacts autistic people's life experiences and personalities. it isn't something they have it's something they ARE.

saying autistic people "suffer" from autism is also harmful. this is because autism is not a bad thing. it just means the individual experiences the world differently. autistic people do not suffer from autism, autistic people suffer from ableism from other people because of their autism. autism isn't the problem, ableism is.

autism can be cured = this is false. autism is life-long and cannot be cured. the idea of a "cure" for autism is inherently ableist as it implies that autism needs to be cured, which it doesn't. autism impacts autistic people's personalities and life experiences, and by saying they should be "cured" is saying that you do not care about them as people and that they only matter when they act "normal". therapies such as ABA are not cures for autism, and do not help autistic people in any way. therapies such as ABA are abuse and focus on forcing the person to hide their autistic traits for the convenience of the people around them.
only boys can be autistic = this is false. boys are more commonly diagnosed, but that doesn't mean girls cannot be autistic. AFAB (people are less commonly diagnosed because their autistic traits often present differently. they may have more "normal" special interests such as tv shows or music and they often learn to mask and hide their autistic traits as children. professionals often cannot spot autism in AFAB people because most studies of autism have focused on AMAB people
everyone's a little bit autistic = this is false. autism is a developmental disability. autistic people experience the world differently to non-autistic people and by saying that everyone is a little bit autistic, you are ignoring that they are autistic and have had different experiences that most people have not experienced.