Asperger's Syndrome - More Myths surrounding Autism

More Myths Surrounding Autism

Children with autism are completely cut off from human relationships.
Reality: Children with autism have abnormal social relationships, but they haverelationships nonetheless. For example, a young child with autism may feel love andattachment for his mother and father, but still dislike being touched by them (unless theyhug very firmly). While it’s unlikely that an autistic child will be a cheerleader, it is verylikely that they will have solid relationships with, at the very least, their closest familymembers. And many autistic people do build strong friendships through shared passionateinterests. There are also plenty of autistic people who marry and have satisfying romanticrelationships.

Autistic people cannot feel or express love or empathy.
Reality: Many – in fact, most – autistic people are extremely capable of feeling andexpressing love, though sometimes in idiosyncratic ways! What’s more, many autisticpeople are far more empathetic than the average person, though they may express theirempathy in unusual ways.

Children with autism are all like the Dustin Hoffman character in the movie Rainman.
Reality: Autism is just one aspect of a child’s personality and abilities. Children with autismdiffer in intelligence, sense of humor, interests, warmth, temperament, and many otherqualities, just like all children. Autistic people are as different from one another as theycould be. The only element that ALL autistic people seem to have in common is an unusual difficulty with social communication