Breaking Steriotypes (Autism)

There are many stereotypes associated with people with autism or other intellectual disabilities. The most common ones are they are happy all the time, they want to be cured/fixed, they don’t understand when someone is making fun of them, and they have no emotion. These are all very untrue and I will give examples of how they are untrue with examples of real people.

The first stereotype is that all people with autism are happy all the time. This is not true in the least bit! They feel every emotion that we do I have seen my friends with autism or other disabilities have a lot of disabilities. They tend to have extreme emotions which are shown in most media as happy emotions. Most of the stereotypes stem from media showing the certain group a certain way which is why they tend to be thought of that way.

People also think that people with a disability want to be cured. This is another untrue common stereotype about people with disabilities. They are happy to be the way they are. If someone came up to you and said, “Do you want to be cured and be as smart as me?” you would probably get upset and offended. This is just the same with people with disabilities they think they are just fine the way they are. They do want to do some things they cannot do but would not give up who they are for that.

The other common stereotype is they do not understand that they are being made fun of. This is a ridiculous thing to think! They are not incapable of thinking and are definitely aware of the people around them. The biggest event we have for best buddies is the Spread the Word to End the Word campaign. This campaign promotes people not using the R-word. They think it is hurtful for people to use the R-word because it offensive to them. It really hurts them to be called the R-word or be made fun of.

They don’t have emotion is the other common misconception of them. This is the most untrue stereotype I have heard about them. They are some of the most emotional people I know. Even the lower functioning friends I have are still emotional. They don’t express it as much if they are non-verbal because they can’t really say it but you can definitely see it in their eyes. I love that sparkle in their eyes when I come up to them and they see me and get excited.