Harmful Assumptions About Autists
People think of autism in ways that are often hurtful to those of us who are autistic. Some of them include assumptions like:
Autism is worse than any other diagnosis
Autists are incapable of having relationships
Autists cannot experience empathy
Autism is a static diagnosis so autists can't change and grow
Autists are aliens who can't understand or be understood by other humans
Autists cannot communicate with others
Autism needs to be “cured” or “eliminated”
Autists can't be trusted as reliable sources of information about autism or other autists
Autists can't achieve in the normal world