Learning about autism can feel overwhelming. There is so much information out there, from books and websites to courses, social media accounts, therapies and training programmes. The difficult part is working out what is actually useful and, importantly, what respects Autistic people.
Not all autism information comes from the same perspective. Some resources still focus heavily on deficits, behaviours and ways to make Autistic people appear more “typical”. Others take a rights-based, neuro-affirming approach that recognises Autistic people as people with our own ways of thinking, communicating, sensing, playing, learning and experiencing the world.
Where you get your information matters because it can shape how you see the Autistic people in your life and the support you provide.
It is worth thinking about where much of our traditional understanding of autism actually came from.
For a long time, autism was largely explained by professionals observing Autistic people from the outside. Researchers, clinicians and educators developed theories about Autistic behaviour, communication and development, while Autistic people themselves were often missing from the conversation.
That has started to change.
More Autistic adults, researchers, advocates, parents and professionals are sharing their experiences and contributing to our understanding of Autistic life.
This does not mean that professional expertise or research has no value. Of course it does. But professional knowledge should not exist separately from the people whose lives that research is trying to understand.
If we want to understand Autistic people, we need to listen to Autistic people too.
Our experiences can help explain things that are difficult to understand simply by observing them from the outside.
There is a difference between learning about autism as a diagnosis and learning about Autistic people.
A diagnostic description can tell you about traits associated with autism. It cannot fully explain what being Autistic actually feels like.
It might describe sensory sensitivity, for example, but that does not necessarily tell you what it feels like when lights, noise, smells, movement and demands all become too much at the same time.
It might describe a behaviour without explaining what is happening underneath it.
This is why the questions we ask matter.
Instead of immediately asking how we can stop a behaviour, we can ask what might be causing it. Is the person overwhelmed? Are they frightened or confused? Are they in pain? Is the environment too demanding? Are they trying to communicate something that we have not understood?
When we start from curiosity rather than control, our response can be very different.
A neuro-affirming approach recognises neurological differences as part of normal human diversity.
That does not mean pretending that every Autistic person finds life easy or that nobody needs significant support.
Some Autistic people have substantial support needs. People can experience disabling sensory environments, communication barriers, difficulties with daily living, anxiety, trauma, exhaustion, burnout and medical conditions alongside being Autistic.
Being neuro-affirming does not mean ignoring any of those things.
It means supporting someone without treating their Autistic identity as something that needs to be corrected.
The aim is not to make somebody appear less Autistic. It is to understand what they need to feel safe, communicate, participate in life and develop in a way that works for them.
There is no perfect checklist, but there are some things worth looking for when choosing autism information, training or support.
Be cautious when information focuses heavily on “challenging behaviour”, compliance or simply getting an Autistic person to behave differently.
Behaviour happens for a reason.
Someone who appears angry, distressed, withdrawn or uncooperative may be overwhelmed, frightened, confused, exhausted, in pain or unable to communicate what they need.
Sometimes the demands being placed on them are simply beyond what they can manage at that moment.
A rights-based approach looks at what is happening underneath the behaviour instead of seeing the behaviour itself as the whole problem.
Communication is much broader than speech.
Autistic people may communicate through speech, AAC, typing, signing, gestures, movement, behaviour, facial expressions, echolalia or a mixture of different methods.
Communication can also change depending on stress, sensory load, environment and energy.
Someone who can usually speak may find speech much more difficult when overwhelmed.
The goal should not be to make Autistic communication look more neurotypical. The important thing is that a person has a way to communicate that works for them and that the people around them make an effort to understand it.
Autistic children may play differently from other children.
They may repeat activities, organise objects, become deeply absorbed in particular interests, prefer parallel play or interact in ways adults do not immediately recognise as social.
Different does not automatically mean deficient.
Instead of trying to make Autistic play look more typical, we can become curious about what the child enjoys and find ways to connect with them through their interests.
Terms such as “high functioning” and “low functioning” can create very misleading assumptions about people.
Someone described as high functioning may have significant needs that are overlooked because they speak fluently, work or perform well academically.
Someone described as low functioning may have their abilities, understanding and potential underestimated.
Support needs can also change depending on the environment, stress, health, sensory demands and what is happening in someone’s life.
It is usually much more helpful to talk about a person’s actual support needs rather than trying to sum up an entire person with a functioning label.
Sensory experiences are not simply a checklist of things someone likes and dislikes.
Sound, light, touch, movement, temperature, smell, pain, hunger and internal bodily sensations can all interact with emotions, thinking, communication and stress.
A noisy classroom might not simply be annoying for an Autistic child. It could make it extremely difficult for them to think, communicate or remain regulated enough to learn.
If we understand the whole experience, we can provide much better support.
Stimming can include rocking, pacing, hand movements, vocalising, repeating sounds, touching objects, bouncing or many other movements.
Autistic people stim for lots of different reasons.
It can be enjoyable. It can express excitement. It may help with concentration, sensory processing or emotional regulation. Sometimes moving our bodies simply feels good.
Unless a stim is genuinely causing harm, it is worth asking why anybody feels it needs to be stopped in the first place.
Looking different is not the same as doing something wrong.
Approaches that prioritise obedience over autonomy deserve careful consideration.
Autistic children need to be able to communicate boundaries.
They need to be able to say no, stop, I don’t understand, I need a break, this hurts, I don’t want to and I need help.
Those are important skills.
If we teach a child that pleasing an adult is always more important than listening to their own discomfort, we can make it harder for them to express those boundaries.
Good support should build safety, trust, communication and autonomy rather than simply producing compliant behaviour.
Autistic people have historically been described as lacking empathy or having deficits in “theory of mind”.
Human communication is much more complicated than that.
The Double Empathy Problem describes how misunderstandings can happen between people who experience and communicate about the world differently.
In other words, communication difficulties do not exist entirely within the Autistic person.
Non-Autistic people can misunderstand Autistic communication just as Autistic people can misunderstand non-Autistic communication.
Understanding each other is a two-way process.
A lot of traditional autism support has focused on teaching Autistic people how to cope with environments designed around non-Autistic expectations.
Sometimes we need to look at the environment instead.
Could the room be quieter?
Could instructions be clearer?
Could we provide more processing time?
Could somebody communicate in another way?
Could we reduce unnecessary demands?
Does the person really need to make eye contact?
Can they take a break when they need one?
Can we make the situation more predictable?
Sometimes changing the environment can make a much bigger difference than trying to change the person.
If an Autistic person suddenly seems less able to manage things they could previously do, it is important not to immediately assume they are being lazy, difficult or that they have simply “regressed”.
Autistic burnout can involve profound exhaustion and a reduction in someone’s ability to manage everyday activities, communication, sensory input and demands.
Recovery can take time.
Reducing demands, creating predictability, providing sensory support, allowing rest and rebuilding a sense of safety can all be important.
Trying to force someone back to their previous level before they have recovered may only add more pressure.
Developmental milestones can be useful, but they are not a timetable that every human being must follow perfectly.
Autistic development can be uneven.
Someone can be very advanced in one area while needing significant support in another. Skills can develop at different speeds and sometimes in a different order from what people expect.
Rather than constantly comparing an Autistic person with everybody around them, it can be more useful to look at that individual’s development, needs and quality of life.
Everyone has their own path.
This is another really important point.
Not every difficulty experienced by an Autistic person is caused by autism.
Autistic people can experience physical illness, pain, sleep problems, trauma, anxiety, ADHD, learning disabilities, epilepsy, gastrointestinal problems and many other medical or neurological differences.
If somebody’s behaviour or abilities suddenly change, we should not automatically dismiss it as “just their autism”.
There may be something else going on that needs attention.
No single word or phrase automatically makes a resource good or bad, and context always matters. However, there are some things that should encourage you to look more carefully at the information being presented.
Be cautious of resources that:
It is also worth being cautious of anyone who claims to have all the answers.
Our understanding of autism is still developing and there is still a great deal we do not know.
Good educators should be comfortable saying that.
The goal should not be to create a person who becomes very good at hiding that they are Autistic.
The goal should be to help create a life in which that person feels safe, understood, respected and valued.
For one person that might mean communication support. For somebody else it might involve sensory accommodations, reducing demands during burnout or changing aspects of their school or workplace.
It might involve helping somebody understand their own needs and advocate for themselves.
It might involve medical or therapeutic support for something that is genuinely causing them pain or distress.
Sometimes it simply means the people around an Autistic person learning that there are different ways to communicate, learn, play, move and experience the world.
Taking a rights-based approach does not mean rejecting research.
Research matters.
However, we should still think critically about what research is measuring and who was involved.
What did the researchers consider a successful outcome?
Were Autistic people involved?
Was the goal to improve the person’s quality of life, or simply to reduce visible Autistic traits?
Were participants asked how an intervention affected them?
Were possible harms considered?
Did an improvement on a clinical measurement actually result in a better life for the Autistic person?
Something being described as “evidence-based” should not mean we stop asking questions.
Research, ethics, lived experience, individual needs and human rights all matter.
One of the simplest things you can do when learning about autism is make sure Autistic voices are included in what you read, watch and learn.
That does not mean finding one Autistic person and treating their opinion as representative of everybody.
We disagree with each other too!
Autistic people have different personalities, abilities, cultures, communication styles, support needs and experiences.
One person’s experience of being Autistic is exactly that: one person’s experience.
Listening to a wide range of Autistic people gives us a much richer understanding.
It also reminds us that autism is not a personality type or a checklist. We are people first and no two Autistic lives are exactly the same.
There is no quick fix when it comes to supporting Autistic people, because the person was never the problem that needed fixing.
Building good relationships takes time.
Understanding someone’s communication takes time.
Creating safer environments takes time.
So does questioning some of the assumptions many of us grew up with about behaviour, intelligence, independence and what development is supposed to look like.
There is no five-step programme that will work for every Autistic person.
The aim is not to create a less Autistic person.
It is to understand and support the person who is already there.
At AUsome, we approach Autistic life from a neuro-affirming and rights-based perspective, informed by Autistic and otherwise neurodivergent experience.
Some of us are parents too. We are researchers, learners and educators, and just like everyone else working in this area, our understanding continues to develop as we learn more.
We do not see Autistic people as problems waiting to be fixed.
We believe environments can change. Expectations can change. Support can improve. Communication can become more accessible and relationships can become safer.
Most importantly, we believe there is room in the world for different ways of thinking, communicating, moving, playing, learning and experiencing life.
So if you are starting to learn about autism, don’t only learn about a diagnosis.
Learn from Autistic people.
Listen to different Autistic experiences. Question assumptions. Learn to recognise barriers and think about how you can create safety and understanding for the person in front of you.
No article, diagnostic manual, training course or textbook can tell you everything about an individual Autistic person.
Getting to know them, listening to them and learning what works for them is always going to matter most.
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