April 2025
Understanding Autism: Facts, Myths, and Building Greater Awareness
World Autism Month is a global initiative aimed at promoting understanding, acceptance, and inclusion for individuals with autism.
This month, individuals, families, educators, clinicians, and organizations come together to advocate for greater awareness and recognition of the autism community.
According to the CDC, about 1 in 36 children in the U.S. is diagnosed with autism. However, the condition affects everyone to varying degrees. This variation is why many refer to the condition as a “spectrum” disorder.
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disability that can affect a child's behavior and social and communications skills. Because most children on the autism spectrum will sit, crawl and walk on time, you may not notice delays in social and communication skills right in the first year of life. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that all children be screened for autism spectrum disorder at their 18- and 24-month well-child checkups.
Research shows that starting an intervention program as soon as possible can improve outcomes for many children on the autism spectrum.
- Myth: Autism is a disease.
- Fact: Autism is a neurodevelopment disorder that reflects unique brain function and exists on a spectrum. Each individual experiences autism differently, and being “different” doesn’t mean there’s something wrong.
- Myth: There’s an autism epidemic.
- Fact: The rise in autism diagnoses is primarily due to increased awareness, better diagnostic practices, and changes in classification criteria, not an actual epidemic. More children are being recognized and diagnosed than in the past.
- Myth: All autistic people are the same.
- Fact: Autistic individuals are unique, with a wide range of abilities and characteristics. Autism looks different for everyone, and each person with autism has a distinct set of strengths and challenges. Some autistic people can speak, while others are nonverbal or minimally verbal and communicate in other ways. Some have intellectual disabilities, while some do not. Some require significant support in their daily lives, while others live entirely independently.
- Myth: Childhood vaccines cause autism.
- Fact: Extensive research has shown no link between vaccines and autism. This myth originated from a discredited study that was found to be fraudulent, and it has been debunked by numerous scientific investigations.