Misconceptions About Autism & Asperger’s

Individuals with Asperger’s and high functioning Autism have particular difficulty with organization. They cannot learn to organize themselves without our support. These students often have messy desks and lockers, and papers and books strewn on the floor around their desks. They often cannot find the assignments they need unless we help them organize. When I say “we,” I mean teachers, school staff and parents. A village is needed to help organize these students!

Decide whether each characteristic below is true of all, none, or some individuals with Autism or Asperger’s. Also decide whether it is true of other individuals!

1. Children who are affectionate do not have Autism or Asperger’s.

2. Individuals with Autism or Asperger’s:

a. prefer to talk about what they are interested in.

b. are socially appropriate. 

c. prefer to be by themselves.

d. engage in joint attention.

e. prefer adults.

f. become more social.

g. share their interests.

h. do not share their enjoyment and achievements.

i. have limited facial expressions.

j. know what the listener needs to know.

k. do not realize that we have thoughts and feelings separate from theirs.

l. prefer children younger than themselves.

m. will talk about what you are interested in.

1. Children who are affectionate do not have Autism or Asperger’s.

This is one of the biggest misconceptions. Many parents feel that because their child is affectionate, he or she does not have autism. At one time many years ago, this was part of the diagnosis, but that is no longer the case. It has been found that children with Autism or Asperger’s can be very affectionate. These children's feelings about physical contact are usually related to sensory problems rather than to social impairment. Some need to control physical contact, and seek it when they need it. They have difficulty accepting physical contact when someone reaches out to them unexpectedly.

Temple Grandin, Ph.D., a woman with Autism/Asperger’s who has a doctorate in Animal Husbandry, described how overwhelmed she became whenever an aunt tried to hug her. The story is related in her first book, Emergence: Labeled Autistic (1996). Dr. Grandin invented a squeeze machine to provide herself with the type of physical pressure she sought. 

In summary, children with autism or Asperger’s can be very affectionate. Difficulty with physical contact is usually related to sensory problems rather than to social impairment. People with autism may need to be in control of physical contact.

2b. Individuals with Autism or Asperger’s are socially appropriate.

These statements are also misconceptions. The DSM-IV-TR does not define these characteristics for individuals on the autism spectrum. A key part of having an autism spectrum disorder is not being socially appropriate. Being socially appropriate does not describe individuals on the autism spectrum. 

2d. Individuals with Autism or Asperger’s engage in joint attention.

Individuals with Autism or Asperger’s do not engage in joint attention. Joint attention is the ability to alternate your gaze between an object and the person to whom you are speaking in order to reference the object. For example, your friend is wearing a new pin. You compliment your friend by looking at the pin, then at your friend’s eyes, then back at the pin.

Children as young as 12-18 months can do this. Individuals on the autism spectrum cannot. This is a key characteristic in the early diagnosis of autism. If you are not sure whether autism is present, set up situations to see whether the student can follow your eyes toward an object. Also, watch the manner in which the student shows you something. One kindergarten teacher asked her student, Mary, whom we suspected had Asperger’s, to get her Beanie Baby from her locker to show her teacher. Mary brought it to the teacher, held it up at her own eye level and talked about it. Mary did not look at her teacher at all. When another kindergartener showed her teacher an object, she looked from the object to the teacher several times.

Interestingly, the most salient social characteristic of individuals on the autism spectrum is their lack of eye contact. This is a simplification of the problem since the critical issue is lack of joint attention. 

2i. Individuals with Autism or Asperger’s have limited facial expressions.

Individuals on the autism spectrum do not use multiple nonverbal behaviors, including eye contact, facial expressions, gestures and body postures to regulate social interaction. Joint attention includes shifting eyes from person to object and often a gesture toward the object. Some individuals on the spectrum can learn to make eye contact, but they do not learn to integrate this activity with a facial expression or gesture. Often they have the same appearance for a variety of feelings, or show only two or three different emotions (e.g., happy, sad and angry). That is, their range of facial expressions is limited. We cannot read their true feelings or reactions from their appearance. Instead, we need to learn to read their behavior.

Individuals on the autism spectrum find our facial expressions and emotions very difficult to understand. Since they do not look at us, they cannot get information from our faces. Some studies have indicated that when individuals with autism look at us, they look at our noses and mouths. Most of our facial expressions are in our eyes. Such people are missing a great deal of important social information by not looking at our eyes. Also, when these children are young, parents will notice that they do not direct their smiles at their parents. Often, they will direct their smiles at objects. 

2e. Individuals with Autism or Asperger’s prefer adults.

Most children with Asperger’s and some children with Autism, especially the group considered to be high functioning, like to interact with adults, including their parents, and some even seek them out. However, this is not a characteristic of the disorder. When assessing this characteristic, we should not be fooled by how the students relate to us as adults. We need to determine how they are interacting with children their own age, according to their developmental level. 

2l. Individuals with Autism or Asperger’s prefer to be with children younger than themselves.

Many prefer to play with either older or younger children. Some like older children and find toddlers and babies upsetting. Some love babies. These preferences are all suggestive of not developing peer relationships. Failure to develop peer relationships spans a broad range--from a total lack of interaction with peers and preferring to be by themselves, to unresponsiveness when approached by a peer, to a lack of interest in peers. Some children with autism spectrum disorders watch peers, play chase and engage in parallel play. Some may not be able to engage in imaginative play or group play with peers.

In the case of an older student (age 10-15), this element would be characterized by not being able to develop friendships or by not understanding friendship. However, the guide is the child’s developmental level. If a child is functioning at the 3-year-old level, we would expect parallel and cooperative play. By the age of 5, the child should be able to interact with peers, decide what to play jointly and take turns at preferred activities.

2c. Individuals with Autism or Asperger’s prefer to be by themselves.

2f. Individuals with Autism or Asperger’s become more social as time goes on.

Many can do these things but are not able to initiate an interaction and need assistance to join in. Some initiate interactions, but in an unconventional manner. Several years ago, one child with autism went to a park. When he wanted to join other children in their play, he rushed at them, yelling, “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!” Needless to say, the other children did not want to play with him. 

Often, students with High Functioning Autism play with other children by controlling the play theme. This would not be an appropriate peer interaction because of its one-sided nature. Some individuals with Asperger’s have no interest in their peers or other children. Sometimes, they say or do things purposefully to put distance between themselves and other children. Some would like to have friends, but do not understand the reciprocity of friendship. One intervention that can help these students is Social Stories by Carol Gray. 

It is often thought that individuals with Autism or Asperger's prefer to be by themselves, prefer adults, become more social as time goes on, or prefer children younger than themselves. These things are true of some people with autism, but not all.

The student with Autism or Asperger’s must show at least two of the four characteristics under Social Impairments. The four characteristics are: 

1. marked impairment in the use of multiple nonverbal behaviors to regulate social interaction

2. failure to develop peer relationships appropriate to developmental level

3. a lack of spontaneous seeking to share enjoyment, interests, and achievements with other people

4. lack of social or emotional reciprocity

Children on the autism spectrum often do not engage spontaneously in these play behaviors unless they are taught and encouraged to do so. Some children with autism like to watch their peers and show interest in them, but do not know how to interact with them. Many enjoy playing chase with their peers.

2g. Individuals with Autism or Asperger’s share their interests.

2h. Individuals with Autism or Asperger’s do not share their enjoyment and achievements.

Individuals on the autism spectrum cannot share their interests (except for most individuals with Asperger’s). The lack of spontaneous sharing of enjoyment, interests or achievements with other people is another characteristic and also an obvious one. Children with autism often do not pull us into their interests or achievements, or usually, into their worlds. For example, a child may play by himself constructing elaborate designs with Legos and not show it to his parents. This also includes not sharing toys or food with other children. Some children with autism force others to share with them. For example, the child may want a cookie and force Mom or Dad to have a cookie, not being aware of whether the parent wants one.

When a child with autism is engaging in an activity that he or she enjoys, often the child does not share the resulting pleasure with others. The child may laugh, but direct the laughter toward the object or toward no one in particular. Remember that not all children show all characteristics. Some may show parts of characteristics. For example, some children share their pleasure by looking at their parents or bringing their parents to something they have accomplished. Usually, they look at the object and do not gesture or look at the parent. However, the frequency of this behavior may be less than is found in typically developing children.

5. Individuals with autism or Asperger’s prefer to talk about what they are interested in, do not know what the listener needs to know, and do not realize that others have thoughts and feelings separate from theirs.

These descriptors of autism fall under the fourth social impairment characteristic--lack of social or emotional reciprocity. For individuals with Asperger’s Disorder, this area includes their difficulties with conversation, in particular the turn-taking aspect, the ability to listen to what someone else says and comment on it, and the element of not talking with anyone about topics in which they are not interested or talking only about their own interests.

Two other characteristics fall under this heading. One is the student’s ability to offer comfort. Many individuals on the autism spectrum accept comfort, but have difficulty noticing that someone needs comforting or, when they do notice, do not know what to do. Some stand nearby and watch. A few offer a favorite toy or blanket. The other characteristic is inappropriate facial expressions. These include laughing for no apparent reason or laughing at times during which we typically do not laugh, such as at a funeral or when someone is angry. I often think that this laughter is related to something the individual has perceived and wonder what has made the person laugh.

When staff or parents ask why a child would laugh when they are angry at the child, I suggest that it may be how they look when they are angry! For individuals with autism, difficulties with conversation are more significant and fall under the category of communication impairment characteristics. One example of difficulties with knowing what the listener needs to know is the student who has just had a social problem on the bus. He goes to his teacher and discusses the incident as if she had been there.

Some researchers in the field of autism refer to this as a Theory of Mind problem. Others are insulted that people with autism are considered not to have a mind or sense of mind and suggest that the problem has to do with perception. Individuals with autism or Asperger’s lack social or emotional reciprocity. 

In summary, many individuals on the autism spectrum accept comfort, but have difficulty noticing that someone needs comforting. Individuals with autism or Asperger’s can have inappropriate facial expressions. These include laughing for no apparent reason or laughing at times during which we typically do not laugh. One difficulty is in knowing what the listener needs to know.