- [Amanda] Hey, Psych2goers.
Just over 40 years ago, autism was first recognized
as a distinct diagnosis in the DSM-III.
Since then, awareness of autism
has become widespread among the public,
and thankfully, most of this
has been respectful and positive.
Unfortunately, there have also been unscientific myths
about autism that exploit
some people's confusion and anxiety.
These contribute to negative stigma and make it harder
for autistic people to truly be understood
and flourish in society.
Have you fallen prey to any of these myths?
There's also a part two to this video
with five more myths about autism.
With that said, here are five myths about autism,
written by our autistic specialist writer
and based on research in the most common myths
among the public.
Number one, the epidemic myth.
There's a strange misconception
about a so-called autism epidemic.
Over the years, awareness of autism
has increased dramatically among health professionals,
authorities, schools, parents, and the media.
Autistic children who were previously overlooked
are now getting correctly diagnosed,
leading to growing estimates of the autistic population.
Initially, one in 150 American children
were estimated to be on the autism spectrum.
But now, the estimate is one in 59,
which is closer to reality.
An anxious mind without a full understanding
might see this increase and jump to the illogical conclusion
that something is spreading.
But the only thing that's spreading is knowledge.
There's an epidemic of awareness, recognition, respect,
and support for autistic individuals.
And that's nothing to be anxious about.
Number two, the vaccine myth.
Have you ever seen someone make up
completely fake data for an assignment?
Sadly, even some professional scientists
have fabricated data.
In the late 1990s, a personal injury lawyer
pursuing a case against a vaccine manufacturer
funded a fraudulent study to discredit the vaccine.
This study was led by Andrew Wakefield,
who fabricated medical histories for some children
who had received the vaccine mentioned in the lawsuit.
In reality, most of the children had autistic symptoms
at a completely different time from the vaccination,
and some of them didn't even have autism at all.
But Wakefield manipulated
or completely invented their medical histories
to suggest a false connection
between autism symptoms and the vaccine.
Some parents of autistic children then fell prey
to confusing correlation with causation.
Autistic symptoms usually become noticeable in childhood
and vaccination is also common in childhood.
Parents who already had the idea in their minds
falsely assumed a causation between the two events,
just because they happened at a similar time,
when it was actually a coincidence
and would have happened anyway.
Over the past 20 years, every researcher around the world
who has investigated rates of autism
have found no difference between vaccinated
and unvaccinated children.
There's not a single study to back up the myth
other than Wakefield's original study,
which was investigated by the UK's General Medical Council
declared to be fraudulent and retracted.
Number three, the parenting myth.
Before there was robust evidence about the causes of autism,
some people came to completely baseless confusions
based on their personal preoccupations.
In 1967, school director Bruno Bettelheim was interested
in the social isolation of his autistic pupils,
and made a bizarre comparison
with the emotional detachment he witnessed
when he was a prisoner in a Nazi concentration camp.
Obviously, these two situations are light years apart
and people can be socially isolated
for many different reasons.
However, Bettelheim was convinced of his own baseless idea
and wrote a book suggesting
that a lack of affection created autism itself.
This suggestion had absolutely no evidence,
but some families who were confused
or anxious about an autism diagnosis
found it natural to latch onto a false explanation
that had an easy blame attached.
Now that we know more about the causes of autism,
we can safely say that this is a myth.
The scientific reality is that autism
comes from a variety of genetic and prenatal factors.
Parents of autistic children
are already under a lot of pressure to do the right thing,
and they don't need extra stigma on top of that.
Number four, the cure myth.
Temple Grandin, one of the most prominent
animal scientists in the world,
has emphasized that her autism is directly responsible
for her success in the field.
Autistic traits like hyperfocus, attention to detail,
and unique perspective are benefits for us to nurture.
Unfortunately, some have misguided focus
on only the difficulties
and a misunderstanding of medical terms
like cause, symptom, and support.
This flawed framing has sometimes led
to an inappropriate borrowing of the term cure,
but there's nothing to cure.
Families experiencing stress when raising autistic children
can latch on to false hopes.
The nature of autism is a permanently
different structural wiring of the brain
that couldn't and shouldn't be eliminated.
The lives of autistic people
are definitely filled with challenges,
but this is caused by a lack of genuine understanding
and support for autistic traits,
not necessarily the traits themselves.
And number five, the savant myth.
Have you ever questioned your own worth
and abilities from time to time?
Autistic people are no different.
Media portrayals of autistic individuals
try to create a positive impression,
and we're glad about that.
However, these intentions can actually backfire
if the portrayals are too skewed compared to reality.
Excessive focus on those with savant abilities,
such as exceptional mathematical skills,
can disregard and devalue
those who don't have such abilities.
As we mentioned with the case of Temple Grandin,
the real benefits of autism come from unique perceptions.
The autistic mind has a heightened awareness
of certain patterns and details,
but these don't always appear in dramatic or extreme ways.
Autistic people have reported feeling judged
when their abilities don't match unrealistic expectations.
So there you have it, five myths about autism.
The next time you see a claim about autism,
pause for a second and reflect
on whether it might be a misconception
before deciding to accept it or not.
Even better, like and share this video
to help spread correct and respectful knowledge
about autism in society.
Research shows that prebunking misinformation
is more effective than debunking,
meaning that it's best to spread corrections
throughout the public before the misconceptions reach them.
You can help us with that.
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Thanks so much for watching, and we'll see you next time.