Also written by Ava Barbour.
April is National Autism Month, with April 2 being World Autism Day.
Autism Spectrum Disorder, or ASD, is a neurological disorder that can primarily affect communication, coordination, and thought process. It can affect anyone, regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, or birthplace. Autism is a large spectrum with every diagnosed person in a different spot.
Autistic people often have highly selective and exclusive interests and hyper-fixate on them. Repetitive behaviors, known as “stimming, ” are also common. Examples of stimming include reciting movie lines, foot tapping, picking at the skin, and playing with hair.
Unfortunately, misinformation about autism is widespread and is usually based on old studies, traditions, lack of information, and stereotypes. One of the most common misconceptions is that vaccines cause autism. This could not be farther from the truth. As of now, autism has no specified cause other than genetics. Because of these misconceptions and misinformation, autism is typically portrayed in a negative light.
However, although autism is often portrayed this way, autistic people can have incredible skills that neurotypical people don’t usually have. Autism can cause exceptional memory, incredible detail orientation, and strong motor skills in sports and music. Many famous people are diagnosed with autism, such as Jerry Seinfeld, Tim Burton, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and even Albert Einstein and Charles Darwin were suspected of having ASD.
Overall, autism is nothing to be ashamed of and doesn’t deserve to be portrayed in such a negative light. It’s neither good nor bad- it simply “is.”
