Debunking myths about autism

Brut America

Do people with autism have higher IQs? Can they build relationships? Is it the same for men and women?  Meet the TikToker who's debunking myths about autism...

Transcript

00:00Why do you want to find love?

00:02I don't want to die alone.

00:04Being around people is draining, but I don't like being alone.

00:15We see Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory or The Good Doctor on ABC,

00:20where they are portrayed as geniuses with advanced abilities in math and science,

00:25which is great, but it's a very rare occurrence.

00:29Autistic people can have incredible gifts and talents in certain areas,

00:34but statistically speaking, most of us have around an average IQ.

00:38I think one big problem in the media right now is that it kind of favors disabled people

00:44who have some sort of special ability or advanced talent in some area.

01:00It's really important to highlight the diversity of the spectrum

01:03just so that people kind of understand why they say,

01:05oh, you don't look like you've got autism.

01:07And I think highlighting the different ways that autism can present itself

01:11will kind of help with that statement being said a little bit less.

01:18My mom first noticed some noise sensitivity,

01:21so I had a lot of sensory issues around noise and around the textures of my clothing.

01:26I was considering wearing headphones because in the autistic brain,

01:30the center where sound is perceived, it crosses over where pain is perceived.

01:34So that's why autistic people cover their ears because it hurts. It does hurt.

01:38There was a lot of insistence on routine and sameness.

01:41I would line up my toys, and she brought up her concerns to the doctors at the time,

01:46and basically she was just brushed off because I was a female

01:49and I was speaking not only clearly but in sentences as well.

01:52And they delayed my diagnosis by several years.

02:03One main difference between the way autism manifests in men versus women

02:08is some women can be more socially motivated than our male counterparts might be.

02:14So this would mean that we are more aware of our differences

02:18or our deficits, and we take great measures to not only be aware of them

02:23but also to camouflage them.

02:25We're just kind of, you know, the phrase, like, you fake it till you make it.

02:32When I was little, around the age of probably eight or nine,

02:36I really recognized that I was different than the other little girls my age,

02:41and I didn't have a word for it at the time.

02:43And so the word that I chose was, like,

02:45It was either stupid or weird or some combination of the two.

02:48Seeing yourself through the framework of,

02:50well, I'm autistic, and that's why I do those things

02:53is kind of more neutral or even positive than thinking that you're weird.

03:08Is that sexual?

03:09No. I think it's stimming.

03:11I definitely appreciate that my autism is able to feel this ongoing passion

03:16that I have for both my work here with Project HOPE

03:20as well as my dog training.

03:22I just have this immense amount of passion for it,

03:24and I'm able to hyper-focus on it for extended periods of time.

03:27The flip side of that would be that I still have a really strong need

03:30for routine, especially at home.

03:32I have a hard time maintaining friendships with other people

03:35and connecting with them.

03:37I think I want people who recognize themselves in my experience

03:40to know that they are not alone.

03:42I think there's a lot more of us out there

03:44than it probably seems that there might be.

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