MYTH: AUTISTIC PEOPLE ARE VIOLENT.

FACT: Autistic people are no more likely to commit acts of violence than anyone else. This particularly damaging assumption was widely spread in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook shooting.  Some autistic people do act out or have what are known as “meltdowns,” usually as expressions of frustration with themselves or situations, but this doesn’t equate to violence against other people; an autistic might throw objects in frustration, for example, without any desire or intent to hit people with them.