List some Myths that you learned about autism

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Another myth that I've heard is that a person can't be autistic unless he or she plays with fire, tortures small animals, and wets the bed.

you're not autistic if you weren't in special education classes in high school.

you're not like *this other autistic person*, therefore you don't have autism.

autistic people don't like sex.

autistic people either hate alcohol and drugs or only use them to ease the stress of social interaction.

anorexia is a form of autism. (even heard this one from a nurse once!)

If you stutter, you're on the spectrum.

Asperger's is a form of ADHD.

One of each came from my ex boyfriends.

Aspergers automatically translates into ASD Level 1

My personal experience is from the age of 17. I was working at a developmental system after I graduated. We had two autistic people there. They were completely cut off and would rock and bang their heads. One of them had points on the cheekbones from being calcified. The second time I was 38 and in the hospital for the second time. They brought in an autistic person who, again, was completely cut off.

But, I did not know otherwise until my own research. So.......it's a learning curve for everybody.

I had read that people on the spectrum don't understand humor, except wordplay, and never understand sarcasm. Those things are not true for me so I never suspected I could have an ASD.

I thought autism was pretty much retardation. Then I was told by a psychologist that I was probably on the AS. I know I'm not a ret*d so I suddenly realized I knew nothing about autism. I still don't really know all that much, so I see lots of stuff being said here that applies to me and which makes me think, "aha". Then again, there's also plenty of stuff that doesn't apply to me.