Autism myth busting

Here are some common myths about how children or young people with autism behave which have been busted.

It’s fine if a child or young person doesn’t like playing with others and is happy on their own

All children and young people are unique individuals with individual preferences and personalities. We need to celebrate this diversity but also recognise when it might start to cause problems. Children learn many important skills through playing with others, and these are skills that they will need to be successful in later life. It’s fine if a child or young person sometimes likes to be on their own and is happy with their own company at times – provided they can also play, share, negotiate and compromise with others and work in groups.

If a child or young person exclusively plays on their own, becomes upset if others approach them, is not able to listen to others or negotiate their needs (at an age-appropriate level), then they are going to need some additional help to develop these skills.

Children are just being naughty or attention seeking

All behaviour is communication and there is always a reason for behaviour that others might deem as ‘naughty’. If we respond to the behaviour rather than understanding the cause, we will never truly understand our young people. This behaviour can be caused by a variety of reasons including:

• sensory overload
• tiredness
• hunger
• bullying
• physical discomfort
• anxiety
• feeling isolated or disconnected
• confusion
• emotional hurt

All these emotions can be difficult for any child to understand, analyse and regulate. Add autism into the mix and the child will act with ‘fight or flight’. Common discipline methods that focus on quick fixes such as ignoring, rewarding, praising, and punishing are often ineffective because they omit to look at the underlying causes so can cause the child to become more distressed, which can result in a meltdown. A patient approach is imperative, with an emphasis being placed on understanding so that the child doesn’t become overwhelmed.’ This can include regular breaks, noise reduction, removal of labels from clothes, maintaining routine. Hopefully, with time and patience, these familiar coping tools and strategies will help teach the young person useful ways to self-regulate.