Things You Need to Know About Autism - a thread for sharing.

I try to raise awareness, understanding and acceptance of #autistic people. Have a read and hopefully it will help.

#thread #autism

1. Autism has always existed, as far as we can tell. Any increase in the number of autistic people is due to better diagnosis and growing population. There are historic figures who display many autistic traits, such as Isaac Newton. #autism

2. Autism is not an illness or disease. It cannot be caught, nor does it appear to spontaneously happen. You are born autistic and you will die autistic - it is not 'curable'. #autism

3. Autistic people do not lack empathy, nor are we emotionless robots. We often struggle to communicate emotion, and we can have alexithymia, making identification of emotions hard, though. #autism

4. Autism affects the entire demographic - doesn't matter your gender, sexuality, age, class, skin colour, culture. Autism is a human condition. #autism

5. Autism is not a childhood condition. Autistic children become autistic adults; they may learn to hide it but it's there. #autism

6. Autism is not a learning disability in and of itself. It can occur alongside learning disabilities, but not always by any means. #autism

7. Attitudes to whether it is a disability vary. Some autistic people see it as disabling, others do not. Neither is wrong, both have their good points and arguments. I personally believe that it is a disability. #autism

8. Autism is often undiagnosed, especially in demographics that aren't young white males. This means self diagnosis is often a requirement to get an official diagnosis. Some cannot get this dx, but still deserved to be heard. #autism

9. Autistic people are not childlike, nor are they incapable of communication. Many are writers, thinkers, creatives, professionals. This does not make them 'less autistic' in some way. #autism

10. Autistic people generally will benefit from reasonable adjustments in work and school, though there are no hard and fast recommendations as we are all different, with different needs. #autism

11. Autism can be hugely beneficial, yet it can also be quite disabling. Often it is both, often simultaneously. This means autistic people can seem both needy and independent. #autism

12. Autistic people suffer from much higher rates of depression, anxiety, suicide. There are many reasons for this but most could be alleviated by a more tolerant society. #autism

13. Autism can make communication difficult, as we seem to be using a different operating system to non-autistics. Thus it helps if we're given more processing time, and remember communicating is a two way street. #autism

14. Autistic people are disproportionately victims of abuse, either from family, officials or others. The most dangerous may be police violence, which can often be used on autistic people who simply need help but ard perceived as a threat. #autism

15. Autism is not the same as ADHD though they have similarities and are frequently co-morbid. #autism

16. Autistic children are disproportionately kicked out of education, often when small easy fixes would help if anyone thought to implement them. #autism

17. Autism can cause hypersensitivity to sensory input in various ways, through sound, smell, touch, bright lights and so on. #autism

18. Autistic people can experience meltdown if put under sustained unavoidable stress. The thing is, more things cause stress for us in thd world so you're more likely to see us snap, unfortunately. #autism

19. Autistic people, especially women and POC are too frequently accused of 'faking it', due to outdated stereotypes and bigotry. This is very damaging. #autism

20. Autistic people can lead successful happy lives, if allowed to do so. Some of us require more help than others. #autism

I would like to make writing and communicating about #autism my main career one day - any contributions really help towards that goal. Thank you. https://www.buymeacoffee.com/UfTVnRY