Myths about Autism

There are many myths, stereotypes, and misconceptions about autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Misinformation is prevalent and it can be difficult to determine myths from facts.

In this article, we look at ten myths and then explain the facts related to this area of ASD.

1. Myth: Autism is a disease.

  • Fact: ASD is a neurodevelopmental disorder where individuals develop different neuropathways compared to neurotypical individuals (Hirota and King 2023). The brains of autistic people are different, not wrong or diseased.

2. Myth: Autism is a mental illness and can be cured.

  • Fact: Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder that can impact mental health (higher rates of depression and anxiety; Kuzminskaite et al. 2020, Hirota and King 2023). Autism is not a disease to be cured, but accommodations and early interventions can help autistic people deal with living in an ableist society.

3. Myth: Vaccines cause autism.

  • Fact: A researcher named Andrew Wakefield published falsified data in a journal article in 1998 as he was ideologically opposed to vaccinations. The article was later retracted, and Andrew Wakefield lost his medical license. There is no scientific support for the idea that vaccines cause autism, however, misinformation and conspiracy theories on this idea are still prevalent and have led to vaccine hesitancy and the rise in measle epidemics and deaths due to parents not vaccinating their children against measles (Gabis et al. 2022, Gulati et al. 2025)

4. Myth: There’s an autism epidemic.

  • Fact: An epidemic is “a widespread occurrence of an infectious disease in a community at a particular time” (Oxford Languages 2026). Hence, autism is not an epidemic as autism is not an infectious disease but a heritable disorder that has increased globally over decades (Fombonne 2025).

  • Fact: However, recent changes in four main areas have increased diagnosis of Autism (Fombonne 2025):

    • Increased recognition and awareness of ASD have improved diagnosis and interventions for children and adults.

    • Changes to the criteria used in the DSM for autism now places more disorders under the category of ASD.

    • Additionally, the DSM-5 now allows individuals to have both an ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) and autism diagnosis that was not possible prior to 2013 (APA 2013). Thus, many individuals now have both diagnoses, increasing the number of autism diagnoses.

    • Improved understanding of autism by medical providers has allowed more autistic people to be diagnosed.

5. Myth: Autism only occurs in white boys.

  • Fact: Autism is often underdiagnosed in girls and women compared to boys and men due to stereotypes, misdiagnosis with other disorders, and high masking in girls due to gender norms on behavior (Gellert et al. 2025, Fombonne 2025). Approximately 4% of boys are diagnosed with autism compared to 1% of girls (Fombonne 2025). Many studies have shown that autism can present differently based on gender and race; thus, is often missed in girls and women (Gellert et al. 2025, Minutoli et al. 2026) as well as minorities (Begeer et al. 2009, Kim et al. 2025).

6. Myth: Only children are autistic.

  • Fact: Autism is a lifelong neurodevelopmental difference with approximate prevalence of 2.3% in children and 2.2% in adults (Hirota and King 2025). Thus, people do not outgrow autism but develop strategies to cope with living in an ableist society.

7. Myth: Autistic people are savants.

  • Fact: Although some autistic individuals develop savant-level skills (approximately 10% of all autistic people; Rudzinski et al 2024), not all individuals with savant syndrome are autistic (Yin 2025). Many neurotypical people confuse special interests and deep focus with having savant-level skills for specific subjects.

8. Myth: Autistic People Lack empathy/emotions

  • Fact: Autistics feel emotions deeply but express them differently. The Double Empathy Problem (“breakdown in mutual understand and hence a problem for both parties to contend with, yet more likely to occur when people of very differing dispositions attempt to interact”; Milton et al. 2022) explains why many autistic and neurotypical individuals have difficulty communicating. Some autistic individuals also experience hyper-empathy and strongly feel other’s emotions, have strong emotional reactions to injustice or cruelty, and feel overwhelmed by emotions (Kimber et al. 2024).

9. Myth: Autistic individuals don’t like to socialize.

  • Fact: Most autistic individuals want to make friends and socialize but find it hard to engage with peers due to differences in communication and missed social cues (Chan et al. 2022). Many autistic individuals are also overwhelmed by loud, crowded environments (Patil and Kaple 2023) and may need a lot of energy/capacity to stay at social events as well as needing hours alone to recover from socializing.

10. Myth: Autistic people cannot lead independent or meaningful lives.

  • Fact: Although some autistic individuals have higher support needs than others and may not be able to live independently as adults, most people with autism are able to live independently, work in every field, and make meaningful contributions to their families and communities.

  • Fact: It is highly ableist to view individuals with disabilities as less than those without disabilities especially using “productive member of society” to equate with having a meaningful life.

References

  • American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.) https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.book.9780890425596.

  • Begeer, S., El Bouk, S. Boussaid, W. Terwogt, M, Koot, H. (2009). Underdiagnosis and referral bias of autism in ethnic minorities. Journal of Autism Developmental Disorder 39:142-148.

  • Chan, D., Doran, J., and Galobardi, O. (2022). Beyond friendship: the spectrum of social participation of autistic adults. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders 53: 424-437.

  • Fombonne, E. (2025). The autism ‘epidemic’: misinterpretation, misinformation, and conspiracy. European Journal of Epidemiology 40: 981-994.

  • Gabis, L., Attia, O., Goldman, M., Barak, N., Tefera, P., Shefer, S., Shaham, M, and Lerman-Sagie, T. (2022). The myth of vaccination and autism spectrum. European Journal of Paediatric Neurology 36:151-158.

  • Gellert, B., Ostrowski, J., Pinkas, J., and Religioni, U. (2025). Underdiagnosed and Misunderstood: Clinical Challenges and Educational needs of Healthcare Professionals in Identifying Autism Sprectrum Disorder in Women. Behavioral Sciences 15: https://doi.org/10.3390/bs15081073

  • Gulati, S., Sharawat, I., Panda, P., and Kothare, S. (2025). The vaccine-autism connection: No link, still debate, and we are failing to learn the lessons. Autism 29:1639-1645.

  • Hirota, T. and King, B. (2023). Autism Spectrum Disorder: A review. JAMA 329, 157-168.

  • Kim, H., Karakaya, M., Skiner, M. and Baker, D. (2025). A systematic literature review of racial disproportionality in Autism in the U.S. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders 55:1010-1030.

  • Kimber, L., Verrier, D., and Connolly, S. (2024). Autistic People’s experience of empathy and the Autistic Empathy Deficit Narrative. Autism in Adulthood 6: 321-330.

  • Kuzminskaite, E., Begeer, S., Hoekstra, R. and Grove, R. (2020). Short report: Social communication difficulties and restricted repetitive behaviors as predictors of anxiety in adults with autism spectrum disorder. Autism 24:1917-1923.

  • Milton, D., Gurbuz, E., and Lopez, B. (2022). The “double empathy problem”: Ten years on. Autism 26 : https://doi.org/10.1177/13623613221129123

  • Minutoli, R., Marraffa, C. Failla, C., Pioggia, G., and Marino, F.  (2026). Female gender and autism: underdiagnosis and misdiagnosis - clinical and scientific urgency. Frontiers in Psychiatry: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1704579

  • Oxford Languages (2026). Epidemic. Oxford University Press.

  • Patil, O. and Kaple, M. (2023). Sensory processing differences in individuals with autism spectrum disorder: a narrative review of underlying mechanisms and sensory-based interventions. Cureus 15: e48020. DOI 10.7759/cureus.48020

  • Rudzinski, G. Pozarowska, K., Brzuszkiewicz, K., and Soroka, E. (2024). An outline of savant syndrome. Psychiatric Polska 58:681-691.

  • Yin, E. (2025). Savant Syndrome and Autism Spectrum Disorder: A literature review. Asia Pacific Journal of Developmental Differences 12:332-347.

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