There are an awful lots of Autism myths out there; most are ridiculous, some would actually be quite funny if they weren’t so harmful, but they do seem to somehow persist in the national consciousness.
The announcement from the President of the USA, Donald Trump, that tylenol (or paracetamol in the UK) is at least in part responsible for some children being born Autistic falls into that category.
Apart from Donald Trump’s own track record for unfounded rhetoric in this area, there is his willingness to mock disabled people, see my blog post from way back in early 2017:
The theory that this common painkiller is in some way responsible for children being Autistic is being debunked as nonsense by Governments, medical professionals, and Autism experts across the world, including in the USA itself.
Although it might be easy to laugh this nonsense off, it can and likely will, have serious consequences. Pregnant women experiencing severe pain or a fever may be put off taking medication to help them, and this could have an impact on their health and the health of their baby.
There are also the issues that once again Trump is labelling Autism as bad, blaming parents (in this case mothers) for their child being Autistic, and suggesting that the peceived increase in Autistic children is a “horrible crisis” rather than attributing it to better understanding, awareness, diagnosis, and a broadening of the diagnosis criteria in the last few years. His rhetoric is spreading fear across the Autistic community.
The paracetamol/tylenol Autism myth isn’t the first myth that Autistic people have had to deal with. It’s just the latest in a long line of misinformation, misunderstanding, and hype.
It is important to call these myths out for what they are, so, here’s my guide to another ten Autism myths and how we can bust them:
- “We’re all ‘on the spectrum’ somewhere.” Autism is a neurodivergence, a different way of the brain being wired. Some people can share some similar characteristics with Autistic people from time to time, e.g. sensory differences, being happier in their own company, or being strict about rules, but you are either Autistic, or not; so no, you can’t be “A little bit Autistic.”
- “Children can grow out of it.” Autism is a neurodivergence hard wired into the brain. It is an integral part of who an Autistic person is and cannot be “grown out of” or “cured”. There are loads of ‘treatments’ and ‘therapies’ out there, but mostly they seem to be about trying to force an Autistic child to behave like a non-Autistic child; few are of any real value, and many are harmful. It would be better to focus energy on helping non-Autistic people understand Autistic people better, as well as making the world a place that embraces and appreciates diversity and difference.
- “Autism is just a ‘boy’ thing.” Girls can be Autistic too. Autistic girls are often better at masking their differences, as well as generally being better at copying or mimicking their non-Autistic peers. This, and the prevalent myth that Autism is a male neurodivergence, has meant that Autistic girls often go unnoticed and unsupported, and even today four times as many boys are diagnosed as girls.
- “All Autistic people are like the film character ‘Rain Man’, right?” Wrong. Some Autistic people have extraordinary talents and abilities, however this isn’t typical. No two people are the same, and that goes for Autistic children and young people too.
- “Autistic people don’t experience emotions.” Also wrong. Autistic people experience all of the emotions that anyone else does, but may express or respond to them differently. There is an argument that Autistic people can experience emotions even more strongly that non-Autistic people, and that these emotions can sometimes be overwhelming.
- “Vaccines are responsible for Autism.” We don’t fully understand all the reasons why some people are born Autistic and others aren’t, it’s commonly held to be some combination of genetic and environmental factors, but we do know that it’s nothing to do with vaccines. As we’ve explored already, Autism is a neurodivergence that is hard wired into the brain from foetal development, so Autistic people are ‘born’ Autistic not ‘made’ Autistic.
- “Child ‘A’ has ‘severe Autism’ and Child ‘B’ has ‘mild Autism’.” Terms like ‘mild’ or ‘severe’, ‘high-functioning’ or ‘low-functioning’, are not helpful when describing an Autistic child or young person. Each child is different and may have a range of other factors affecting them, for example learning disabilities or long-term health conditions. Even the Autism ‘spectrum’ can have its issues, see the helpful image below this list from r/autism (https://www.reddit.com/r/autism/)
- “Autistic children cannot show love to their family.” Utter nonsense. Every time my son James beams at me, love shining from his eyes, he is communicating the depth of the love he has for me. He can’t say the words “I love you Dad” but he shows it with every fibre of his being.
- “Autism is a result of bad parenting.”(Sigh) This started decades ago with studies that tried to link Autism to parents that were judged to lack parental ‘warmth’. Aimed primarily at mums it labelled them as ‘refrigerator moms’. Long discredited and completely untrue. I am constantly in awe of the wonderful, loving, caring, and passionate parenting, of families of Autistic children. They are the very best.
- “There is an Autism epidemic.” Oh dear… The ‘evidence’ for this is the seemingly ‘rapid’ change in the statistics around Autism and children. It wasn’t that long ago that these suggested 1 in 100 children were Autistic, that changed to 1 in 68, a more recent study by the Department of Health in Northern Ireland suggests it may be nearer to 1 in 22 (4.5%). Is this an ‘epidemic’? No. Is it better Autism understanding, awareness, diagnosis etc? Absolutely.
So, let’s leave the myths and conspiracy theories to other topics, there are plenty of options out there to choose from, and let’s make sure we speak out and correct anyone who perpetuates these harmful views regarding Autism. If we don’t, who will?
Mark Arnold, Director of Additional Needs Ministry at Urban Saints. Arnold blogs at The Additional Needs Blogfather. This article was re-published with permission.
If you’ve come across another ‘Autism myth’, why not add it in the comments below… but make sure you also debunk the myth at the same time!
Photo via [link]Additional Needs Blogfather[/link].
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