When I heard that April was National Autism Awareness Month, I thought back over my personal history, wondering if I ever knew anyone who was autistic. I couldn’t think of anyone in my high school graduating class who qualified, although according to statistics, ten of the over 300 in my graduating class should have been on the spectrum. One in 36 people is on the autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Fast-forward to the present, and I still can’t name a friend or associate that I know who is on the spectrum. Boys are nearly five times more likely than girls to be diagnosed with ASD.  Girls are often underdiagnosed with autism and misdiagnosed with other conditions, as there is currently no medical detection blood test or cure for ASD.

So, what is autism? According to the Mayo Clinic, autism spectrum disorder is a condition related to brain development that affects how people see others and socialize with them. This causes problems with communication and social interaction. The condition also includes limited, repetitive patterns of behavior. The term “spectrum” in ASD means there is a wide range of symptoms and the severity of these symptoms. Autism, Asperger’s syndrome, childhood disintegrative disorder, and other forms of developmental disorders are now considered part of the autism spectrum disorder.

What causes autism? Like many disorders, it’s complicated. But one thing we know for sure is that vaccines do not cause autism. In 1998, the periodical The Lancet published a study by British doctor Andrew Wakefield that claimed the combined measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine was linked to autism. Wakefield’s theory was not anti-vaccine, but rather that the combined vaccine should be split into three separate vaccines because the combination was too much for the immune system to handle in some children. Wakefield’s study was based on a sample of only twelve children. Twelve! Since 1998, several large-scale studies have shown no link between the MMR vaccine (or any other vaccine) and ASD. Other studies have shown that the combined vaccine is just as safe as the individual vaccines.

But it gets worse.

After the publication of Wakefield’s paper, an investigative journalist, Brian Deer, looked into Wakefield’s data. In a series of articles published in the British Medical Journal, Deer described how Wakefield misrepresented or altered the medical details of each of the twelve children in his study. The study claimed all twelve first experienced ASD symptoms soon after getting the MMR vaccine. In reality, some experienced ASD symptoms before receiving the vaccine, some had symptoms only long after receiving it, and some never, ever, received a diagnosis of autism! Beer also questioned the study’s motivation. Wakefield had two major financial interests in the study’s results. First, a lawyer paid him a substantial fee and planned to file a class-action lawsuit on behalf of children with autism. Second, the year before the study’s publication, Wakefield applied for a patent for his own single measles vaccine. Neither of these financial interests was disclosed in the study.[i] Tragically, many people still hold onto the notion that vaccines cause autism, including the current Secretary of Health and Human Services.

One important factor in the cause of autism is its heritability. Studies have put the hereditary contribution to autism is between 64 and 91 percent. That means autism is more heritable than schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. One thing is for sure: autism is not caused by a cold or distant parent, as was once a common belief.    

Since I am not aware of anyone I know personally who is on the spectrum, I turned to movies to learn more. Probably the most-watched movie with an autistic character is Rain Man[ii] (currently streaming on Prime Video). In the film, Charlie (played by Tom Cruise) discovers he has an older brother, Raymond (the Rain Man, played by Dustin Hoffman), who is an autistic savant with an extraordinary ability with numbers, as this scene from the film shows:

I found it interesting that the Rain Man is a whiz with numbers but lacks basic common sense about them, such as how much change he would have from a dollar if he spent 50 cents. But extraordinary abilities, such as the Rain Man’s, exist only in a minority of those with ASD. Many do have cognitive strengths, but they vary and are not universal.

Temple Grandin[iii] (currently streaming on HBO Max) portrays a more typical picture of autism, as the movie is based on a real person, although she was not formally diagnosed as autistic until adulthood. As a toddler, when she still couldn’t speak, doctors recommended that she be institutionalized, which was the common practice back in the late 1940s. Her mother refused and, instead, began years of specialized speech therapy for Temple. As an adult, Grandin described herself as hypersensitive to noise and other sensory stimuli. She thinks in pictures rather than words, which allows her to remember even the smallest details.  

While spending a summer on her aunt’s cattle farm, she developed an affinity for cattle and became a leading expert on the humane treatment of animals. But perhaps more importantly, she became a leading spokesperson for the ASD community. Here is the closing scene from the movie:

Sadly, Temple Grandin may be more of the exception than the rule. Although bullied as a teenager, she overcame that and other hardships. Others on the spectrum have not been so fortunate. Anxiety affects somewhere between 40 and 60 percent of autistic people. Depression rates are also high. There are substantially higher rates of suicidal ideation and attempts than in the general population. Being different from what most consider the norm can have devastating consequences.

Many people think that those with ASD lack emotions. They often don’t like to be touched, they have a hard time making eye contact, and have difficulty reading tacit social cues. But this is a misconception. Research and extensive first-person accounts suggest many autistic people experience intense emotional responses, sometimes overwhelming ones.

Here is a scene from A Brilliant Young Mind[iv] (also entitled X + Y and currently streaming on Prime Video) showing how an autistic young man finally connects with his mother:

If you want to increase your awareness of autism, I suggest you watch each of the movies discussed above. Additionally, you might consider Jack of Red Hearts (currently streaming on Prime Video), and Please Stand By (currently streaming on Hulu). Or if you prefer a TV series, I suggest The Good Doctor (currently streaming on Prime Video) or Atypical (currently streaming on Netflix).

But those experiencing ASD want more than just awareness; they want acceptance. Being aware of a disorder does not make the world safer for the person who has it. Being aware of a disorder means we generally know it exists, but it doesn’t stop the staring, the bullying, the ignoring, or the pitying. If we accept someone with a disorder, it means not only that we notice they are different, but also that their difference doesn’t make them unworthy of our friendship, love, and respect.  Or, as Temple Grandin might say, “I want people to know I’m different, not less.”

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[i] The information on Wakefield’s study can be found in the book, Science Fictions: How Fraud, Bias, Negligence, and Hype Undermine the Search for Truth by Stuart Ritchie published by Henry Holt and Company.

[ii] Rain Man:  

• Production Companies: United Artists, The Guber-Peters Company, and Star Partners II Ltd.
• Director: Barry Levinson
• Writers: Barry Morrow and Ron Bass
• Starring: Dustin Hoffman, Tom Cruise, and Valeria Golino
• Release date: December 16, 1988

[iii] Temple Grandin:  

• Production Companies: HBO Films, Ruby Films, and Gerson Saines Productions
• Director: Mick Jackson
• Writers: Temple Grandin, Margaret Scarino, and Christopher Monger
• Starring: Claire Danes, Julia Ormond, and David Strathairn
• Release date: February 6, 2010

[iv] A Brilliant Young Mind:  

• Production Companies: Pinnacle Films, British Film Institute (BFI), and The National Lottery
• Director: Morgan Matthews
• Writers: James Graham and Morgan Matthews
• Starring: Asa Butterfield, Rafe Spall, and Sally Hawkins
• Release date: September 11, 2015