Most kids with autism don’t have a “Rain Man” hiding inside.
Most people who have heard the word “autism” have probably internalized a long list of negative stereotypes associated with the disorder: That kids with autism don’t make eye contact, that they have very low cognition or that they tantrum a lot.
We’re here to set the record straight – on some of it, at least.
by Jeanne Sager -
1. Kids with Autism kids have no empathy. “This is not the issue,” says Shannon Rosa, editor of Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism and mom of a boy with autism. “The issue is generally processing social signals and body language. People with autism are often more empathetic than neuro-typicals, plus have fewer filters to protect themselves from other people’s emotional states.”
2. There is an autism “epidemic”. Sure, the numbers are up, but this is a big no, Rosa says. “First, autism is not a disease. Secondly, due to changes in diagnostic criteria, most of the children diagnosed with autism today would have different diagnoses 20 years ago. If there’s any crisis, it is one of under-diagnoses, as that infamous ’1 in 88′ CDC study revealed.”
3. Kids with autism need to be taught to make eye contact. “Um, no!” Rosa says. “Eye contact is physically painful for many children with autism. Others can either make eye contact or talk, but not both at the same time. Responses come in many forms, other folks need to learn to respect that. If I ask my son a question, and he responds verbally, that’s good enough for me.”
4. Many kids on the spectrum are just like Dustin Hoffman’s character in the movie Rain Man. “Many people assume that all people with autism have savant skills, especially memory type things,” Mast explains. “That is not the case. Like any human being, each person has skills that they are better at than others, but not all have a savant skill.”
5. Children with autism can’t stand to be touched. Not true at all, says Leigh Merryday, mom of a child with autism and blogger at Flappiness Is. Need more proof than that? Just check out the pictures of her hugging little Callum on her blog where she describes him as “quite a friendly and affectionate little guy.”
What autism myths bother you?
Read more at Biggest Myths About Autism From Moms Who Know.
[Via - The Stir]
Thanks so much for posting this. I am so tired of people assuming things about my son. He is 6 years old and was diagnosed with autism at 21 months old. Since the time of his diagnosis he had received intense biomedical, PT, ST, OT and discrete trial therapy. We also have an amazing BSC who has been working with him since he was 3 years old. He is currently in a typical half day kindergarten with a PCA for support and receiving all of his therapies in the afternoon. He is very affectionate, loves cars, legos and a variety of toys and loves playing with his sister. I”ve heard a lot of inconsiderate comments over the years and would like to add a few things to the above list. 1). Do not call my son or any other child with autism “autistic”. My son has a name, Ben, and has autism. You don’t refer to an overweight child as “the fat kid” or the child with mental retardation as the “retarded kid”. 2). My child does not to attend “autism only” events. I have several neighbors who are consistently putting flyers in my mailbox for “autism days” at various places, (aquariums, childrens museums). My child is capable of going on “regular” days with typical kids, 3). Please don’t feel the need to discuss adult autism services with me. Although my son may always have some characteristics of autism, I know he will be successful, hopefully attend college and have a real job. Autism doesn’t mean he will be wiping tables at Wendy’s and last but not least 4.) Please do not speak to me about why you think vaccines are safe. I saw my child decline immediately after every vaccination from 12 months old. He was responding to his name, playing typically with toys and was beginning to say words. At 18 months (14 hrs after his 3 vaccines) he completely stopped responding to his name (we thought he completely lost his hearing), spiked a 105 temp, had a seizure and then exhibited head jerking for about 4 or 5 days then disappeared. He was a different kid after that day. My pediatrician said it was a coincidence and told me there was not much we could do if he had autism. Well we showed them !
Thanks,
Sheri