Factually Inaccurate Autism

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I bet she worked with two or three autistic kids who really liked salted crisps, and somehow assumed they all did. Lack of logic there.

Autism has nothing whatsoever to do with one's personality!

All Aspies/Autistics are violent, aggressive and power-hungry. I heard that one from my mother's step-father.

Most popular unspoken response:

"You can't be autistic...you're my relative/friend/co-worker."

You guys are awesome! I will totally be using these "facts"!


WeeOne- Yikes! I hate that one!

Mirror21- That happened to me all the time at work! Though my co-worker that it more-or-less always happened with was very supportive of my diagnosis. I miss her...

It sounds like your colleague is basing his beliefs about autism on a very small sample of the autistic population. A lot of NTs tend to stereotype groups of people based on a very small sample. This shows that many people have a very poor understanding of sociology, psychology, and neurology. Even if people who think this way somehow become enlightened about autism, they're still ignorant and will continue to think this way about other groups of people.

"All autistic people sit around doing one repetitive motion all day". I have actually heard this one.
My biggest myth(s) though concern autism & mental retardation..
"An autistic who does not speak will also be severely ret*d" Not true! Unless it is a co-morbid disorder ASD has nothing to do with mental retardation.

Sincerely,
Matthew

* All Autistic people despise social interaction.

* Having Asperger's Syndrome incapacitates one's ability to feel love.

* Autistic people can't feel physical pain.