30 things I wish people knew about #autism. A thread. Please share and retweet this thread. #ActuallyAutistic /1

Autism is not a mental illness or a disease. #autism /2

There is no cure for autism and most autistic people don’t want a cure for their #autism. /3

Autistic meltdowns aren’t “tantrums”. #autism /4

Autistic meltdowns aren’t “bad behaviour”. #autism /5

Autistic people not having all the traits of #autism doesn’t make them non-autistic. /6

Autistic people don’t “lack empathy”. #autism /7

Some #autistic people may struggle with socialising but that doesn’t mean that they are anti-social. #autism /8

Autism self-diagnosis is valid. Not everyone can afford a formal #autism diagnosis. /9

Autistic people don’t grow out of #autism. /10

Autistic people were born #autistic; their #autism didn’t start when they were diagnosed or just before they were diagnosed. /11

Autistic people having friends doesn’t make them non-autistic. #autism /12

Autism isn’t a “modern trend”. Autism has existed for a long time; in fact, the origin of the word is from the “early 20th century”. #autism /13

You can’t tell if someone is #autistic from their appearance. #autism /14

Girls and women can be #autistic. #autism /15

Autistic people have feelings. Quite a few neurotypicals in my life told me that “autistic people have no feelings” and I felt offended; yes, the word “felt”. I have feelings and so do all #autistic people. #autism /16

Some #autistic people may struggle to express their feelings but that doesn’t mean that they have no feelings to express. #autism /17

The #autism spectrum is not linear. /18

If your child has recently got an #autism diagnosis, that doesn’t make them unlovable. /19

Autism isn’t a choice. Autistic people didn’t choose to be #autistic. #autism /20

Autistic people shouldn’t be blamed for getting an #autism diagnosis. It’s not their fault. /21

Autistic people not maintaining eye contact doesn’t mean that they aren’t listening or paying attention. #autism /22

Neurotypicals shouldn’t expect #autistic people to behave without their autism traits. #autism /23

You can’t separate #autism from an #autistic person. /24

Just because sensory environments “aren’t a big deal” for some neurotypicals, that doesn’t mean that they should invalidate #autistic people’s experiences with sensory environments. #autism /25

Just saying “calm down” to an #autistic person whilst they are having a meltdown won’t help them calm down. #autism /26

Autistic people are #autistic; they can’t be “very autistic” or “not so autistic”. #autism /27

Vaccines don’t cause #autism. /28

Bad parenting doesn’t cause #autism. /29

An #autism diagnosis isn’t a tragedy. /30

Autistic people shouldn’t be punished for stimming. It isn’t “bad behaviour”. #autism /31