Whether the cases of autism nationwide are growing or only its awareness and diagnostic criteria are, one thing is for sure: There are a lot of misconceptions out there about autism.
Defined as a developmental disorder of children and characterized by impaired communication, excessive rigidity and emotional detachment, autism is now considered part of a larger group of disorders called autism spectrum disorders.
With April as Autism Awareness Month, Dr. James Hahn, a pediatrician with St. Elizabeth Physicians’ Aurora office, wants to set the record straight on some widely held myths about autism.
The myth
Autism is linked to vaccines.
The facts
The most pervasive and damaging myth, according to Hahn, is the myth that autism is linked to vaccines.
The myth, Hahn said, is largely based on a 1998 study suggesting a causal link between vaccines and autism. The study has since been retracted, and the medical license of its author stripped due to fraud and improper research practices. The dozens of research studies since then have all concluded that vaccines are safe and that no link exists between them and autism. This myth also persists in some part due to the unfortunate fact that around 25 percent of kids with autism experience regression in skills around 18 to 24 months of age, the same period in which kids typically receive vaccines.
“Once people’s minds are made up, it can be difficult to change,” Hahn said. “People tend to look for evidence to support what they already think and refute any evidence to the contrary. There’s a difference between searching and researching.”
(Hahn recommends people visit the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Healthy Children site for reputable research on the safety and effectiveness of vaccines.)
The myth
All children with autism have mental or intellectual disabilities.
The facts
It’s a mistake to over-generalize autism, Hahn said. All kids are different and have different strengths and weaknesses, and the same is true for kids with autism.
Although many kids with autism have mental or intellectual disabilities, many kids with autism have normal or even above-average intelligence.
The myth
All children with autism are savants.
The facts
People often can mistakenly equate autism with Dustin Hoffman’s character in the 1988 movie “Rain Man,” Hahn said.
Although there is a small percentage of children – around 10 percent – who have savant abilities, this isn’t the norm.
The myth
Complementary or alternative medicines cure children with autism.
The facts
The hard truth is, there’s no cure for autism, Hahn said. Parents who want to try a complementary or alternative medicine for their autistic child are welcome to explore those therapies but should only do so after first consulting the child’s pediatrician.
“For the vast majority of patients, autism requires lifelong management,” Hahn said, “so diets or alternative medicines that have been touted as the next big thing in autism treatment probably won’t hurt, but also might not help your child and can be very costly. And, if you change your child’s diet, the pediatrician should be consulted because it could cause nutritional deficiencies that need to be addressed.”
The myth
There is an identifiable cause for autism and, sometimes, it’s something the parents did that’s to blame.
The fact
Although it’s hard for parents to accept after an autism diagnosis, there just isn’t an identifiable cause with the majority of autism cases.
In fact, in only 10 to 20 percent of cases can doctors identify a chromosomal or genetic problem as the cause.
“A lot of times, parents are blaming themselves for something they’ve done or perceived to have done, but that’s just not the case,” Hahn said. “The truth is that while we suspect that autism stems from genetic and environmental risk factors, that still has to be fleshed out a bit more. We’re in the infancy stages of understanding the true causes.”
