25 Autism Facts I've Learned After 25 Years Being Autistic

Autism fact websites, or sites claiming to have facts on autism, are a dime a dozen when it comes to the World Wide Web. However, just because something claims to be ‘an autism fact’ that doesn’t necessarily mean it is. And, while I can spot an autism fact from autism fiction a mile off, I don’t imagine everyone else has this same exceedingly niche ability.

In an effort to resolve this, and to celebrate my 25th year of being autistic (aka my 25th birthday), today, I’ve set myself the task of creating an inarguable list of autism facts to top all other autism facts.

[Please note: These autism facts have been split into five categories, feel free to click on the links and read the categories in whichever order takes your fancy:

[‘Basic Autism Facts’
‘Academic Autism Facts’
‘Common Autism Misconceptions’
‘Autism facts for Autistic People’
‘Fun Facts About Autism’]

If you learn something new today and want to give me a little ego boost on my birthday, please share this post on Facebook/Twitter.

Basic Autism Facts:

[The First Person Diagnosed as Autistic: Donald Triplett]

1. The First Diagnosis of Autism

Let’s start from the start. Although use of the word ‘autism’ as a recognised diagnosis didn’t come until 1943 (when it was given to a man called Donald Triplett), the term autistic actually dates much further back; being used throughout the early 20th century to describe people with schizophrenic tendencies.

While this may suggest that autism is a fairly recent condition, there is actually evidence to suggest otherwise. With proof of autistic thinking charting back thousands of years, as well as historic findings, which suggest that icons such as Hans Christien Anderson and Lewis Caroll, both who were around in the 1800’s, were autistic – but more on famous people with autism later.

2. Autism Affects Everyone Differently

Like epilepsy, cystic fibrosis or diabetes, autism is known as an invisible disorder. This means that, for the majority of us who have the condition, there will be almost no physical features that make us stand out as ‘autistic’.

This same lack of distinguishing characteristics isn’t exclusively physical, however, as while we all do have similar quirks, such as obsessing over things, our interests can often be just as diverse. It’s this fact that has coined the phrase within the autistic community that goes: ‘once you’ve met one person with autism… you’ve met one person with autism’.

3. Autism Changes

A fun fact about myself is that, during my early school years, I was almost entirely unable to express myself and struggled tremendously to speak in full sentences. Nowadays, I rarely shut up, and though I still obsess over numbers, it’s usually as a result of wondering what happened to all my money (as I stand surrounded by more bobbleheads than one man should ever own).

I’m telling you this because, despite the fact autistic people hate change, many of us will experience quite a lot of it throughout life. This is especially true during early development and in puberty, when our quirks will evolve, fading and growing in accordance with whom we’re going to become.

4. Adults are Autistic Too

Autism is a lifelong condition. This means that those of us who were autistic children will grow up to become autistic adults.

Despite this, many seem to forget that there is such a thing as an autistic adult in the first place, as due to the nature of how quirks change, people wrongly assume that some ‘grow out of being autistic’. This is an opinion which has slowly faded in recent years, due to greater publicity, but in my opinion, this change is not happening fast enough.

Bonus fact: To my knowledge, the latest diagnosis of autism ever given was to a 76-year-old man (so don’t believe that just because a diagnosis was missed in early life that it can’t be discovered later on)

5. The Reality of the Autism Gender Split

Once upon a time, people with autism were considered to be part of a boys’ club, with gender ratios indicating that males were much more likely to have the condition. However, recent research has shown that this split isn’t half as big as we once thought (in fact, there is evidence to suggest that it could even be a solid 50:50 split!).

This change in thinking is as a result of a greater awareness of the differences between the two genders’ quirks, as well as a better understanding of how autistic females will try and mask their condition to mimic other people in their surroundings (as discussed here).

Academic Autism Facts:

6. The True Number of Autistic People

As evidenced by America’s drastic shift in autism rates, from 1 in 100 to 1 in 40 over last year alone. Rapid improvements in autism tests, as well as a greater awareness, has meant that no autism figure should be trusted as definitive for quite some time.

While this has caused some to class our lovely community as ‘an epidemic’, the reality is far from this, as a higher autism rate simply means more people are receiving a diagnosis for something they always had, and not that more people are becoming autistic – as some will lead you to believe.

7. The Different Types of Autism

In the past, you may have heard one or two autistic people being described as having mild or severe autism (and if you haven’t, then you will certainly have heard of Asperger’s). This, however, is no longer technically accurate – or at least in the western world.

Autism typings have been going the way of the dodo for a long time now, as many believe that the grouping and comparing of autistic people is damaging in the long run for getting us the support we need. Instead, autism levels seem to be the new approach in diagnosing autism: as this indicates how much help someone may need (leading to faster treatment overall).

As mentioned, this is a relatively new development and doesn’t apply to places like Pakistan, Hong Kong and various locations in Africa. However, with these inclusions being made to the holy scripture that is the ICD (or International Classification of Disorders) in the last year, it’s more than likely that these other locations will be following suit shortly.

8. Autism & Intelligence are NOT linked

Over the years many people within the autism community have fought the idea that autism should be considered a ‘learning difficulty’. But this isn’t because we dislike the idea that having autism makes things a bit tougher, but because, in some cases, this simply isn’t true.

Furthermore, whereas some autists have reached the ungodly level of savant (possessing a mind which would certainly have come in handy during my second resit of A-Level maths), some autistic people are not quite as academically gifted as others. This is because the effects of autism are dependent on the individual, so, before assuming what a person can and can’t do, why not give that person a little time to discover their capabilities for themselves?

9. No one Knows what Causes Autism

Over the years I’ve heard a lot of tripe when it comes to the causes for autism: smoking, bad parenting, Coca Cola, mercury, vaccines, The Devil, milk, bees, air pollution and the Finnish metal rock band Lordi, but, while you will hear some people making very persuasive arguments for any one of these ideas (okay, maybe not for Lordi) they are, for all intents and purposes, best guesses.

While the more researched of us believe that the most likely cause is a mixture of elements (with the bookies favourite being genetic factors), until you see news stating that the very diagnosis is changing to match a new consensus, take every suggestion with a pinch of salt.

10. There is NO Cure for Autism

On that note, just like there is no answer to what causes autism, it is also widely accepted that there is no ‘cure’ for the condition.

This is something to be relieved about though as, while autism is responsible for our many different quirks and traits, it is also deeply rooted in our personalities and behaviours. This means that, if you could remove autism from someone, it would, in a sense, completely rewire that person – making them unrecognisable from who they were before.

This doesn’t mean there are no treatments for people struggling to make the negative aspects of autism more manageable though, as for related challenges like anxiety and communication skills there are certain options available. These however, usually come in the form of therapy or assisted coping mechanism for the autist – and are not things like snake oil: which believe me people will try to sell you as ‘autism cures’.

Common Autism Misconceptions:

11. People with Autism can have Relationships

For quite some time now my number 1 article on Autistic & Unapologetic has been on autism, love & marriage and, while I would like to think this is because of its loving, heartfelt message, I can see that most people have arrived here by Googling: ‘Can Autistic People Love?’, ‘Do Autistic People Get Married?’, as well as one lost soul who found the page by typing ‘Is Thanos from the Avenger’s Autistic?’ (which if you stuck around, I’m going to go with no).

Although I have previously given the answer to this misconception in that post (link here), the quick response is ‘yes’, autistic people are more than capable of having relationships – whether that be romantic or not, and yes (again), all of these relationships are more than capable of being made with non-autistic people as well as other autists.

12. People with Autism can Work

It is often (wrongly) assumed that autistic people can’t find employment or that they are incapable of keeping a job. This, however, is not true.

While autism employment rates do suggest that autistic people can struggle to find jobs, it is more often the case that this is as a result of ill preparation on behalf on the employer and not as a result of the autist, e.g not putting correct adjustments in place to help socially challenged autists in interview scenarios.

Furthermore, autistic people can actually be incredibly valuable workers if given a shot – something which has been proven by a range of autists: from those of working in high up software engineering positions to those working in local cafes or parks (see my autism in employment post for further evidence).

13. You can be an ‘Autistic Person’ and a ‘Person with Autism’

Despite arguments which make Brexit negotiations look peaceful, the reality is that, whether you call someone an autistic person or a person with autism, it really doesn’t matter – as the important factor is that more people are talking about the condition in the first place.

This conclusion comes after I have seen too many people kicked from a discussion about autism because they have been criticised for their language. A form of pickiness which is no doubt hindering the progression of our social status. As I said in my previous article discussing this (link here), you can always just ask someone what they prefer, but if someone uses the opposite of your preference then please don’t be offended by their error and lash out because that, in turn, makes you the jerk.

14. Autistic people can be Social but have Social Problems

One of the most defining characteristics of being autistic is how many of us within the community are challenged in social situations. So, it’s little wonder why so many people become speechless when they see other autists and I throwing ourselves into the centre of debates, giving passionate speeches or, more recently speaking, watching me go from wanting to avoid any and all human contact to jumping headfirst into a mosh pit at Download festival.

The reason we can do this however, is not because we are some kind of fake autist, but because people are so fixated on the idea that a social challenge is purely communication based. In truth, I find the build-up to going to an event with lots of people extremely stressful and it is only after a conversation has taken place that my mind goes into overload: finding meaning in comments that carried none and worrying constantly about whether what I might have said was considered ‘correct’. Yes, at the time I look absolutely fine but please don’t make the mistake of thinking it’s always that way.

15. Autistic People have Personalities

Okay, so I’ve kept this one as the last entry of this category as I hope that many of you know better than to make this misconception. But it seems that there are a handful of foolish people out there who believe that all autistic people are without personality (an opinion which often overlaps with the idea that people with down syndrome and other genetic disorders also have no personality).

This, however, is obviously untrue – likely stemming from the perception that, as Autistic people often struggle to express themselves in a ‘normal’ way, it may be assumed that we don’t express ourselves at all.

Unfortunately, there’s no in-depth journal which I can link you to that will explain why this way of thinking is wrong, so all I can recommend is that, if you do believe this to be true, then maybe try actually speaking to someone on the spectrum. I promise, we don’t bite.

Autism facts for Autistic People:

16. Autistic people can be Successful

Growing up, my family and I were told that I would never drive, I wouldn’t live independently and there was no way that I would get through the education system. Today, I can say I have achieved all these things.

Does this mean that every autistic person will have the same opportunities in their lives? No. However, I have no doubt that many autistic people and their families have also been told they can’t do something which perhaps is in their reach.

Whether it’s learning to talk, making a friend, getting a job or something entirely else, don’t be afraid to set the bar just above your expectations as, more often than not, autistic people are filled with untapped potential.

17. Be Careful Where\Who you get your Advice from

On a similar note, for autistic people and families of autistic people, it’s important to be aware of where the ‘advice’ you are receiving is coming from; never believe everything you are told and always make sure to double check what you read…. *unless it is coming from this thoroughly researched site you find yourself on.

While doctors and other academics are obviously much more in the know than the average Joe, it’s also crucial to remember just how fast our understanding of autism is changing. This doesn’t mean that you trust Wikipedia over your local GP, but just remember that what might have been certain on one day, might very well be different another – which is a big deal when your handling something as vast and varied as the autistic spectrum.

18. Not Everyone is Positive about Autism (and that’s okay)

Coming from someone with a site based around ‘finding the positive in every diagnosis’, this is a bit of a tough one to admit. However, as autism is so varied and effects so many people differently, it’s not uncommon to find people who don’t exactly share my overwhelmingly optimistic opinion of the condition – and you know what? that is okay.

Autism can be an extremely challenging condition at times and, while I have always enjoyed my alternative way of thinking, I also know that it hasn’t always been easy for the people around me. Autism can be a real pain to some (including both those who have it and those who have to look after someone who has it), but because these experiences differ to mine, does that mean I  disregard them or even scold people having them? God no!

I honestly believe that no one person is ever wrong for thinking the way they do about autism and, while I would love everyone to see the glass as half-full (as I do), a positive attitude isn’t always possible. As a community, we need to accept that not everyone shares the same perspectives as each other and, as such, if someone is having a hard time with autism, they are likely to be in desperate need of support – not neglect.

19. Imposter Syndrome is a Very Real Thing

There are many definitions to what imposter syndrome is. However, for the autistic community, it normally comes to more independent autists when we feel that our experiences of being on the spectrum are undervalued for the ridiculous reason that we are ‘not autistic enough’.

In reality though, no one experience of being autistic is definitive, and that’s what makes this community so exciting and unique. Yes, are quirks and traits vary from person to person, but this individuality is something to celebrate. Don’t be a victim to Imposter Syndrome and always be proud of what makes you.

20. People are Surprisingly Willing to Help

While not always as a result of Imposter Syndrome, there are many autistic people, like myself, who will refuse help – as we believe it will make us stand out or give us an unfair advantage over non-autistic people. This is something we need to get over.

Although yes, giving someone a handicap will instantly put them in front of the crowd, this isn’t because we are worse of overall and there is some secret conspiracy to make us feel good about our short comings. Instead, it is used to level the playing field where autistic people already had a disadvantage – an unfortunate byproduct of living in a world that isn’t always tailored to our needs, but is designed for our various classmates and work colleagues.

I’ve previously shared my experience of how asking for help has made a huge difference in education and at work (here), but to truly understand its many benefits I recommend experiencing it first-hand.

Fun Facts About Autism:

21. World Autism Awareness Day

Established by the United Nations in 2007, and taking place on the 2nd April every year since, World Autism Awareness Day is an annual day celebrated worldwide during which communities come together to help: raise autism awareness, support those in challenging positions on the spectrum and share stories of how one single condition has helped make our brilliant planet become that much more remarkable.

While World Autism Awareness Day doesn’t have the longest history (as it apparently was a larger priority to create events such as ‘Put a Pillow on a Fridge Day’ first), the 2nd April has fast become a mainstay in the global calendar and is marked by celebrities, world landmarks and various organisations, changing their colours to Red, Blue or gold to reflect our cause and raise understanding of our community.

22. In Māori the word ‘autism’ means ‘in his/her own time and space’

Okay, so this was one of those facts that felt too cute to be true. However, after extensive research, I can actually confirm that the word autism in Māori (the native language of New Zealand) is indeed Takiwātanga meaning: ‘a person in his/her own time and space’.

To be fair, this addition to the Māori language is a fairly recent one; only appearing in the New Zealand lexicon as of 2017, but it’s inclusion by civil servant Keri Opai, is a necessary one as A. the word didn’t exist previously (so some sort of name had to be chosen) and B. we now have proof that as our understanding of autism progresses, there is a possibility that academic terminology can alter to fit the modern world (a lesson which Korea could learn a thing or two from: as their word for autism ‘japyeseong’ translates to a ‘person with a problemed nature’).

23. Autistic Celebrities

Although I don’t doubt that there are many celebrities out there who are autistic but haven’t disclosed their diagnosis, I am always hesitant to call out which celebrities may be autistic without definitive proof – as I believe that it means we are judging them based on stereotypical spectrum behaviour and nothing more.

That said, there are actually a good number of celebrities that we know for a fact are on the spectrum, including:

24. Rain Man Wasn’t Autistic

It’s been said a million times that not every autistic person is like 1988’s Rain Man. However, there’s more to these differences that you might first expect.

Although Kim Peeks (the savant inspiration behind Rain Man) undoubtedly had symptoms which overlap with those of us in the autistic community, it was discovered many years after the film’s release that Peeks wasn’t even autistic. Instead, Peeks had FG Syndrome: a rare genetic condition similar to autism but with slight differences that makes the golden boy of autistic depictions quickly lose his shine.

25. Humanity might be EXTINCT if it wasn’t for Autism

Remember in fact 1 when I said that autism has likely been around for thousands of years? Well, it turns out that this may have been somewhat of an understatement, as studies from 2018 found that, not only was autism alive and kicking over 33,000 years ago, but it may also be credited with why the human race managed to make it through the ice age.

In the reports, which came from University of York, medical researchers hypothesized that due to ‘ultra-harsh climatic conditions’, natural selection took place at a much higher rate during the ice age and, as such, it was an evolutionary response to inherit autistic traits such as: a greater ability to remember minute details, a larger capability to recognise patterns and an intense detailed focus to survive.

In short, without the quirks of autistic people to help avoid predators and drive determination for food gatherers, it is likely there would be no people, people. Evidence which can be found in this fascinating full report which, oh yeah, also credits autistic people as the founders of the first drawings. You’re welcome.

Carry on the Conversation:

As stated up top, if you’ve learnt something new today please share this article on Facebook or Twitter. If not, then please share your own favourite autism fact below and see if you can teach me a thing or two.

As always, I can also be found on Twitter @AutismRevised and via my email: AutisticandUnapologetic@gmail.com.

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Thank you for reading and I will see you next Saturday for more thoughts from across the spectrum.