Breaking down the misunderstandings that still surround autism.
Let me be honest with you — some of these myths make my blood boil. Because behind every one of them is a real person. A person who feels things deeply, who wants connection, who deserves to be understood.
So let’s talk about some of the things people get completely wrong — and what the reality actually looks like.
Myth 1: Autistic people don’t feel emotions
They feel — deeply. Sometimes overwhelmingly so.
This one really gets me. The idea that autistic people are somehow emotionally switched off couldn’t be further from the truth.
Autistic people feel the full range of emotions, just like anyone else. The difference is often in how those emotions are expressed — and it might not always look the way people expect. But just because something doesn’t look familiar doesn’t mean it isn’t there.
In fact, many autistic people describe feeling emotions far more intensely than neurotypical people do. It’s not a lack of feeling. Sometimes it’s the complete opposite — it’s an overflow of it.
Myth 2: Autistic people prefer to be alone
They want connection — the world just doesn’t always make it easy.
Some autistic people do need time alone — but that’s not the same as not wanting people around. It’s about recharging. It’s about recovering from a world that can be loud, unpredictable, and exhausting in ways that most people never have to think about.
The desire for friendship, love, and connection is just as real.
The barrier isn’t the want — it’s often the world around them not being understanding or accommodating enough. When those barriers come down, meaningful relationships absolutely flourish. I’ve seen it with my own boys.
Myth 3: Autism is a childhood thing — they grow out of it
Autism doesn’t have an expiry date.
I genuinely don’t understand where this one comes from, but I hear it more than you’d think.
Autism is lifelong. Children grow into autistic adults. And yet, the support, the awareness, the understanding — it so often disappears as people get older, as if the challenges somehow vanish along with the school years. They don’t.
Understanding and support shouldn’t stop at childhood. They should grow alongside the person — because the person keeps growing too.
Myth 4: Vaccines cause autism
They don’t. Full stop.
I’ll keep this one short, because honestly it doesn’t deserve a long answer.
This claim came from a single study that has since been completely discredited and withdrawn. Extensive research across millions of children has found no link whatsoever between vaccines and autism.
What is real is the damage this myth has done — the fear it’s spread, the confusion it’s caused, the children who’ve gone unvaccinated as a result.
Autism is not a side effect. It is not something to blame on anything. It’s a natural variation in the way some people experience the world — and it deserves to be treated with understanding, not fear.
Myth 5: All autistic people are the same
No two autistic people are alike. Not even close.
If I had a pound for every time someone said something to me like “but he doesn’t look autistic” — I’d have retired by now.
Autism is a spectrum. Some autistic people have incredible strengths in memory, creativity, or problem-solving. Some face significant challenges with communication or sensory processing. Most experience a mix of both — and it shifts and changes depending on the day, the environment, the circumstances.
My two boys are both autistic. They are completely different people with completely different experiences. That’s the reality of the spectrum.
Every autistic person deserves to be seen as an individual — not filtered through a stereotype.
Myth 6: Routines mean they can’t cope with change
Routines offer safety — not limitation.
Structure and predictability help many autistic people feel grounded in a world that can feel overwhelmingly unpredictable. That’s not rigidity — that’s self-preservation.
And it absolutely does not mean they can’t adapt. With the right support, the right preparation, and the right understanding from the people around them, many autistic individuals show incredible resilience. Change might be harder — but it happens. Every single day.
The truth underneath all of this
Every single one of these myths exists because of a lack of understanding. And I get it — I was there once too. Before Matthew was diagnosed, I knew almost nothing about autism. What I thought I knew came from films, from throwaway comments, from assumptions. I was wrong about a lot of it.
But once I started actually listening — to autistic people, to other parents, to my own children — everything shifted.
That’s all any of us can do. Listen. Learn. And try to see the person in front of us, rather than the label we think we already understand.
That’s where it all starts.
