as an autism, im just happy y'all didnt use the puzzle peice for the thumbnail

That is incorrect. The autism spectrum is actually what blasts out of my eyes whenever someone says, "You're not autistic, I know someone who is and they don't act like you." And then they go blind and grow hair on their palms.

Regarding ABA (applied behavioural analysis): you glossed over an important caveat to its "success" rate, which is that it measures "success" in terms of conformity to neurotypical behaviours - rather than in terms of improving the subjective experience of the autist, like by teaching them ways to reduce the effects of overstimulation, explicit emotion reading skills, explicit social scripts, differences between them and allists which help understand problems in interactions, etc. That is the crux of autistic criticism of ABA: that it looks at behavioural conformity (like operant conditioning) to improve life for allists around the autist, rather than at improving life for the autist (and as a byproduct giving them the skills needed to better integrate with allists).

Hank. Imagine if someone zapped you everytime you failed to do something that your body wasnt designed to be able to do as a child with no escape until you were tortured into doing it to avoid being zapped again. That is ABA therapy.

As a person on the spectrum, my favorite analogy is that autism is not a computer bug; it's a different operating system.

The side camera for “it’s not vaccines” was gold

I love this new calm, sat down version of SciShow. The high energy shouting at the camera in front of a green screen was difficult to sit through at times.

I really loved the video. I would just add something to the critique of ABA, from the POV of a diagnosed autistic with sensory challenges: for many autistic individuals, is not just discomfort, but actual pain (it's my case). The extreme focus on behaviour caters to parents who want 'a normal child', ignoring the child's feelings and experience. Since alexithymia is very present on the spectrum, the child is not equipped to understand and express the pain of being conditioned to accept being constantly uncomfortable and suffering. So the behaviour may change (and that is seen as a 'positive result'), but at the cost of making the child get used to being in pain or discomfort for the rest of their life, resulting in a worse quality of life and, obviously, added trauma - just because the individual needs were treated as a problem, instead of a difference. A very commom term on autistic communities today is 'masking', and is exactly what ABA and similar treatments incentivize. Masking is the "skill" of pretending you are comfortable and not making extreme efforts to appeal acceptable for others. It's a very sad skill that many of us develop to a point where we start thinking we are just incompetent for being constantly exausted and depressed while everyone else is just "living life", all just to be looked at as a 'normal person'. Imagine being forced to burn your hand everyday until you learn to not express pain any longer, and being taught that the right answer is to pretend that pain is not present and you should continue your life ignoring it. That is what exposure therapy is, almost literally - the difference being your pain is not physically visible as it would be with a burn, but it is real and present, and not going away just because you learned to act as if you feel nothing. I dived into a deep depression in my late twenties/early thirties thanks, in part (because depression is multi-fatorial) , to ignoring all my sensory and social issues my whole life, leaning into the idea that I was being weak and that everyone faced the same issues as me and were capable of surpassing then, when in reality my issues were almost in a completely different world as the rest of the prople around me. That's an inhuman way of life to encourage, specially when it's done just to make someone 'look normal', instead of helping them have a more functioning and fulfilling life. And that is the actual problem with ABA, exposure therapy and others that focus on controlling behaviour instead of trying to help the individual understand their own needs and find creative ways of coping and functioning on their daily life. (I'm sorry if there are multiple spelling or grammatical errors, I'm Brazilian and writing in english is not something I do frequently)

Another reason for Autism being more common for people whos dads are older may be that their dads are also autistic and have taken longer to form relationships and have children because of this. This would therefore make them more likely to have autistic children as it is often inherited.

I lucked out growing up. My Mom picked out right away that I was Autistic and dove HARD into the research about how to raise me right. She informed me that I had Asbergers, and encouraged me to say that proudly; it was part of my personality. She taught me how to approximate eye contact ("Look at the bridge of their nose.") Whenever we went to parties, the first thing she did was ask the host about a quiet room, and showed me where to go if I ever felt "overstimulated." She was very attentive to routines and surprises. She made sure I always had earplugs on hand. I wore them with pride and would sass the other kids if they made comments. People called me "precocious" lol. Mom prepared me so well that we all assumed I'd outgrown my Asbergers. Then I graduated college and took on a socially-intense job traveling the country. For the first time, I was having regular public meltdowns. Massively embarrassing, completely uncontrollable. I would push myself until I broke. I wondered what the hell was wrong with me. Why couldnt I do things like my coworkers? Was was noise so loud, lights so bright? Things that bothered me did not bother them... And why did I have such a hard time connecting with people? My coworkers called me an odd bird (lovingly). I'd always been an odd bird. But now I could really, REALLY see it on full, unsheltered display. Theb I looked up Autism in adult women and.... holy cow, it was me. Just knowing that I wasn't alone, that the strange things I experienced were experienced by others... it cut my stress immensely. I realized all those "coping strategies" Mom taught me as a kid had a purpose. So I gave myself permission to use them again: Leaving social gatherings early; making space for alone time; bringing earplugs everywhere; and letting my coworkers know when I need a break or other accommodations; proudly claiming my differences and working with them.

10:43 "and there's a mutual lack of understanding when we're trying to communicate with people outside of our group". This is what I wanted to express all these years. That's all I've ever wanted to tell anyone. I feel like I've come full circle. Thank you, Hank and Scishow!

Autistic biologist here. Im glad yall are trying to cover this, but as you put it, the science is still very early in terms of understanding. Id encourage you guys to look into the research beyond the largely problematic approach taken by the DSM5. Id recommend a part two looking at the research and evidence produced by trying to understand what the autistic experience is, rather than trying to study it from a neurotypical perspective, the latter of which is what the majority of historic research has consisted of. Some good educational channels on youtube, like Autism from the inside and yosamdysam have a lot of good info, and i can soeak from experience that the information they give can be extremely useful to help learn to live with autism. Much better than ABA in some (likely many) cases.

I knew I was autistic as a kid, and I live independently now. It is not easy. There is so much discrimination. I've had people yell that I should have been left to rot in an institution. I've had people spray down my workplace with perfume because it overstimulates me. I've had to leave gyms because people see an autistic person walking weird and the owner tried to get rid of me. If you are autistic, you need to know your legal rights, it is covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act, you are part of a protected class and you can get help.

This video strongly undersells the negative reputation of ABA in the autism community. It is widely regarded as abusive, unresponsive to the needs of the child and mostly focused on making the child easier to handle for the caregivers. Especially when encouraging people to seek out intervention for their children, it seems irresponsible to not place a stronger focus on the criticisms and opinions of the people most affected by the method.

The most important part is that autism is an experience. Even if someone doesn't show any "symptoms" doesn't mean they're not struggling. I'm self diagnosed and my main issue is when I run out of "spoons", I get slammed with general anxiety. Feels like a mortal threat against my life and I just need to get away from everyone. It's much less of a struggle now with better coping mechanisms. Sometimes I even forget that I have a limit. But when I reach that limit, it's like slamming into a wall. And none of this is external to anyone. They just seem me being quiet, when inside I'm screaming. My mind is racing, I can't stop it, goes into a catastrophic thinking mode that can't be stopped. My pulse will shoot up above 130, I'll get dizzy, start to lose feeling in my limbs. Mind will be racing so fast I have multiple overlapping thoughts. I can left exhausted from social interactions for months. On the outside, I'm calm, and people wonder why I'm not social anymore. They just think I'm a "normal" person, but an avoidant and that I "don't want to be" with others. That is not the case. I *can't* be around others too much.

17:52 I appreciate that you didn't mention the name of the person who came up with ABA, because in my humble autistic opinion, he deserves to be so forgotten that the last memory of him crumbles into dust-- and soon. He said about us: "You see, you start pretty much from scratch when you work with an autistic child. You have a person in the physical sense - they have hair, a nose and a mouth - but they are not people in the psychological sense. One way to look at the job of helping autistic kids is to see it as a matter of constructing a person. You have the raw materials, but you have to build the person." He also worked on the "Feminine Boy Project," which has strong connections to what we call conversion therapy today, something which was built on his techniques and theories from ABA. That strong connection there should not be downplayed. Rhetorical question-- why would we find those techniques acceptable-- if not PREFERABLE-- for a difference in brain styles but unacceptable and cruel for another form of identity?

The guy who came up with ABA originally used it for "conversion therapy" for LGBTQ people. It's disgusting and causes PTSD in us autistics. Hoping one day insurance companies will cover therapies that actually work without harming us - and there are others out there. Thanks for covering this Hank, and loved the anti-vax side-eye! 💜

reminds me of when my sister went to volunteer to help "high functioning" (that's what they called it back then) people with autism spectrum and was met with the existential crisis that the people she was volunteering to help were struggling with the exact same stuff she did! Not only that, she was with her classmates and they commented how similar her idiosyncrasies were to them. She got diagnosed shortly after. Goes to show how varied the autism spectrum can be that a person with it might have no clue!

As someone with ASD, THANK YOU for treating this topic with the respect and technical clarity it deserves. We appreciate you, Hank.

i’ve said it before and i’ll say it again- i ADORE the new video style! the new green screen, standing background, the SITTING background, the multi camera set up with ASIDES!!! i really appreciate this change- not that it was necessary, but that it’s to provide a mild refresh to the channel. i love it. thanks scishow.

My favorite saying about autism is “If you’ve met one autistic person, you’ve met one autistic person.” Also, every person I’ve talked to who went through ABA has trauma from it. You wouldn’t train your dog that way.

Hi I’m an Indigenous woman and was not diagnosed until my late 20s. I’m usually nervous about watching videos about autism but this was very well done. Thank you.

The only thing I dislike about this video is the focus on IQ. It’s a flawed test and shouldn’t be considered in any contemporary context. I was never formally diagnosed. I got the fun girl!autism experience of my adult therapist assuming I’d been formally diagnosed and then asking my mom later and her saying “oh yeah the specialist when you were 3 said you’d be autistic if you were a boy but girls don’t have autism”. The 1990s was ✨a time✨. I’m very happy there’s more support for folks who aren’t cis het middle class white boys nowadays. That said, it’s still an imperfect diagnosis process and I wish there was a lot more room for self-diagnosis. Formal diagnosis does not come with automatic accommodations for adults and I think it’s very worth while to stop and look at your career and immigration goals before pursuing formal diagnosis as a diagnosis can prevent you from pursuing some careers or block you from visas/permanent residency.

Thank you for using the infinity sign not a puzzle piece. We appreciate that.

I was diagnosed with “Asperger’s” as a young teenager and it took me years to recognize the ways I was belittled and harmed by my experiences with others and to embrace my own neurodiversity. One thing I think could be improved about this video is talking about the phenomenon of “masking,” which is a result of adapting to the fact that being visibly autistic is broadly unacceptable to society. Many autistic people develop ways to mimic neurotypical behaviors and responses, and that results in some autistic people who won’t meet the DSM criteria as adults even though they are absolutely still on the spectrum.

As someone on the spectrum, I'm pretty happy to see this. I look and act more-or-less like a normal introvert. But socializing for me feels a lot like playing darts blindfolded. You know what you're supposed to do, and your score after, but actually playing ends up being a matter of trial and error to figure out what specific throws get you a good score. You then just blindly repeat those throws to get the outcome you want. Also, as others have pointed out, I'm extremely happy that you didn't use _The Puzzle Piece_ An icon that strikes variously fear and rage into the heart of those on the spectrum everywhere. EDIT: Thanks to you commenters, I have come to the understanding that many people on the spectrum do not connote The Puzzle Piece as strongly as I do and are not bothered by it. I would like to apologize for this generalization. However, I would also like to say thank you to those who appreciate my darts analogy and hope that it helps you understand and explain your condition.

As an autistic adult diagnosed as a child, I was very nervous about this video but you've in fact done a stellar job. Even the part re: ABA. I went through it as a child in the 80's and was reintroduced to it as an adult in 2017 and the ways in which it has changed are night and day. Punishment has been banned entirely, it's positive reinforcement only now and the whole thing is patient lead, rather than caregiver lead or therapist lead. The focus was to provide alternative coping skills to ones which are dangerous (cause physical harm to self or others) or disruptive (screaming in excess, knocking things over) and ways to communicate verbally or otherwise what you need -- including to leave overstimulating situations rather than melting down or eloping. At least if you live in an area where you have access to up to date, quality care (which isn't many parts of the US, to be fair). There are a lot of helpful interventions however, and ABA should really be more of a "nothing else has helped" option because it is a really big time investment especially for a child. Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy, Feeding Therapy and the like depending on need help a lot, as well as making sure you or your child are placed in an ASD specific learning environment. Almost all early diagnosed children on the spectrum now are eligible for free preschool programs. It is vital you actually follow through with supports offered to you/yourr child because I cannot properly convey how much faster skills are gained when you can see everyone around you using them (compared to just your parents). For the longest time, as a kid, I thought smiling was just something my parents did. I didn't realize I was supposed to also smile when happy until I was sent to school and didn't know how or when to do so. Do not want for a "normal" child. Your autistic child is already normal.

have to say i usually steer clear of more mainstream videos explaining autism, because most of the time they're quite bad but this was pretty solid. (I do wish you were more critical of aba therapy but overall great vid!)

The worst part of ASD is the way other people treat us, because they think the difference in communication is us disrespectibg them because that's what they've been taught.

I have family on the spectrum and in my experience the most difficult part of autism is NOT the fact that you are on the spectrum, but when you can’t understand why you are so different than others and think there is something wrong (or even superior) about yourself because of your neurodivergence. In my honest opinion, even though autism often is not nearly as compatible with our society as neuro-“normality”, we are much richer for the fact that neurodivergent people exist as they offer perspectives which others might not be capable of conceiving, and thus they enrich our ability to perceive the world and improve society.

as an autistic person, who's been through my own late diagnosis journey, i am really glad this video is thorough. next we need a video to paint the social rejection aspects of autism. the telephone game, the uncanny valley rejection study, and the double empathy problem are the best places to start. there is also a push toward autism affirming care which has been a huge boon for my personal mental health!

Great video for the most part. Nothing in there about how aba is LITERALLY conversion therapy 💀 The fact about it working better at earlier intervention age is pretty haunting too💔

As an autistic person it's time for us to take over Autism research, diagnosis and treatment. The world is failing us.

The part about “you don’t grow out of Autism” and that not all autism is the same are really important points to make & I wish more would drive those points home in the therapy community. As someone with an ADHD diagnosis who also expresses many features of autism outside the overlapping ones, it’s so hard to get any therapist to even consider taking my concerns seriously because “how could an articulate, empathetic, grown woman with degrees have autism?” And well, the truth is, I’m an adult and I’ve grown a lot since I was a socially isolated & painfully awkward gifted & talented kid who preferred the company of adults and struggled SO HARD to articulate emotion while also struggling so hard to regulate emotional expression (crying, anger outbursts, exuberant displays of joy… you name it). But now I’m a socially conditioned adult who knows that if you express happiness you get told “someone’s a little manic today” but if you’re angry or sad, “someone’s hormonal today” and 30+ years of observing social interactions & their consequences really help teach one how to be less socially awkward… plus 20+ years of therapy. It’s called masking folks. We all do it. Autistic… ADHD… functionally depressed… We’ve all learned how to put on the face the NTs want to see… and it’s not for them, it’s for our own safety… emotionally and sometimes physically.

SciShow team! Firstly, thank you for this super refreshing video that dispels so many misconceptions! This kind of content is a fantastic step toward better public understanding of autism, and I appreciate you guys using your platform for this. Secondly, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE watch the response video from Paul at Autism from the Inside that just came out. I promise it isn’t mean at all, but it does provide some very logical and well-informed (and incredibly important!) corrections that I think y’all will appreciate knowing.

I am the father of an autistic child. And until I became one, I didn't realize that all of my favorite people were autistic. Rather than it being a disorder, I see it as a huge benefit. People with strong senses of justice and honesty, bastions of creativity, and a perspective that I cannot get from anyone without neurodivergence. These people are my favorite people. I seek them out in my life to have them as friends.

One other little quirk is that autism is usually asociated with social akwardness / lack of empathy. Other autistics like my self are HYPER sensitive Empaths but we have a hard time distinguishing between our own emotions and those of others so it can lead to issues. (fx I cant be in the same room as someone getting embarased be it TV or IRL. The cringe physically hurts)

I opened to a loved one that I might be autistic, and they responded, "No you're not, you're not disabled." It hurt, and made me struggle with my identity as I'm viewing myself with a new perspective. This video fully brought me around to the fact that I am neurodivergent. Thank you for the quality and respect in this video.

I was just recently diagnosed with autism at age 48 and I feel like I might be able to start understanding myself. It is so tough to get through life when your brain works differently. I was able to "fit in" so we'll that people were shocked by my diagnosis. Thank you for this, I might have gotten help earlier if you were around when I was young!!

@SciShow I'd like to see a pinned comment addressing the issues with ABA, as discussed in many comments on this video.

There's one major misconception I'd like to point out: Most of the media that portrays Autism, including the ones that do a great job, portrays Autism as it appears in children. The problem is that Autistic adults do not act like Autistic children but larger, even though that's how it's often played on TV. The reason for this is that most of the writing about Autism one might find when researching is about children. It's hard to get a good feel for how adults on the spectrum act when there's only information about how they acted when they were little. Hence, there's a lot of infantilization in the media. So, contrary to popular belief "acting like a kid" is not a symptom of Autism. It's bothered me for a long time. If you want to see a good TV representation of an Autistic adult who acts the way most of the Autistic adults I know (including myself and my parents) do, the show Dinosaur does it the best I've seen so far.

To me, ABA is more about teaching kids to hide their symptoms rather than embrace who they are. I really am quite sceptical about ABA, because it encouraging masking, i.e. hiding your autistic traits. I wonder if any studies done on ABA take this into account. Mathur et al, (2024) highlights common criticisms of ABA. While I never have experienced ABA as far as I know (some of the principles of ABA might have been used in the training I got), I can definitely say that I adopted the sentiment that my autism made me fundamentally less worth than other people, to the point that nowadays, I still cope with depressive symptoms and feelings of low self-worth. So to me, this sentiment that underlines ABA is incredibly toxic and potent in damaging autistic peoples self-images. When you give negative reinforcement on children's natural behaviour, it could come across as if their natural behaviour is wrong, and therefore their natural state of being is wrong. Mathur, S.K., Renz, E. & Tarbox, J. Affirming Neurodiversity within Applied Behavior Analysis. Behav Analysis Practice (2024).

NO! ABA is not meant to address the whole autistic kid, just the parts that make them 'different' from 'normal' people. This is done by ignoring - and teaching parents to ignore - signals sent by the austist that something's not right. I was born before autism was really understood, and before there was any kind of treatment. I was subjected to my parent's form of what would become known as ABA - sit down, be quiet, stop running/laughing/making noise, eat what's put in front of you, be like your sister/brother. They weren't trying to be mean, they just had no idea what was 'wrong' with me. So I grew up knowing something was wrong with me, and at 71 I realized there wasn't, I'm 'just' autistic. It took me many years of pain and sadness, with bright spots when I connected with people like me, to find out I was OK after all. Maybe you should talk to some actually autistic people who went through ABA and were able to leave it. You'll hear a very different story. Just making people seem to function in society doesn't mean they are happy or fulfilled.

"Less about finding treatments but more about accepting differences" that part.

I remember every report card from elementary school said, "Doesn't play well with others" and I clearly remember feeling like everyone else got a manual on "how to people and friend" and I didn't get my copy. Nothing they did made any sense, and no one could tell me why (this was in the late 80s and 90s). At that time, girls "couldn't be autistic". Yet I was in the gifted programs, 4.0 student and so hyper-focused on my hobbies that I couldn't function without them. Finding out a diagnosis in my late 30s was enlightening.

The complicated history of autism and mental health in general makes it extremely important to VET YOUR CHARITIES! Many autism-related orgs have outdated beliefs related to the therapies or thought-processes related to treating Autism. Many treat it as something to be suppressed, while others may even still reference beliefs of Autism popularized decades ago. Please do your research on Autism, and any orgs that claim to represent Autistic people. Ones like Autism Speaks do not have any Austistic people involved in the company itself, and fall under many of the flaws mentioned earlier in this comment due to that.

This is the most informative and respectful video you possibly could have made, and as an adult autistic, this made me very happy

A lot of improvements to make here, Hank. First, the voices of the autistic community get lost when we treat the condition as a clinical disease rather than different ways of experiencing the world. The former led to many autists being put in psyche wards, while the latter leads to better understanding and acceptance within society. To teach about autism, bring on autistic people to communicate the experience. Stating a prevalence rate of about 1/100 "but some say it could be double that" is awkward when the CDC has it at 1/36 as of 2020, continuing a sustained and rapid increase over the last two decades. We'd have to go back to 2006 to be near your estimate. 4:00 Puzzle piece

I'd love a more focused follow up video on what life for an autistic adult would look like. As someone who got a diagnosis at 28 I feel woefully behind my peers in a lot of respects.

I was diagnosed aged 58, 12 years ago, and it simply explained so much in my life. Looking back to my childhood, I recognise so many traits that today are markers for autism, but at the time, I was just considered to be a strange child. Thankfully, my parents were not bothered, played up my strengths, and gave me the confidence to ignore other people's opinions about me. I went on to a successful career in teaching, where I was able to get the best out of my pupils, yet with my colleagues, I was a social mess. I do wonder whether my life might have been different if I had been "labelled" as a child. Receiving a late diagnosis, it was more of a lightbulb moment. I finally understood why I was often overwhelmed by lights, sudden noises, and even someone touching my hair. Since my diagnosis, I decided not to put myself through the trauma of haircuts, and now my hair is well down my back. If someone thinks that the Gandolf look doesn't suit me, it's not my problem. I actually like my autism. It has given me a great deal, and I have avoided the majority of negativity. I do find that I will tend to tell people that I am autistic rather than have them wonder about my social inadequacy. I have autism, and yet I am not an autistic person. There are many aspects to who I am. Autism is important, it has affected my character, but it is, as far as I am concerned, just an indication that my brain is slightly different. It does not define me.

I wish you would have mentioned that ABA was invented by the same guy and uses the same methods as modern conversion therapy.

Such a perfectly done video!!! I was diagnosed with asperger’s at 14 and like what you said towards the end of the video, the biggest part of it was the relief of understanding why i was the way i was. That section legitimately brought me to tears!! Thank you

one thing that wasn't mentioned in the video and i haven't seen mentioned in the comments (someone could've pointed this out and i just didnt notice it), one of the main reasons why autism symptoms seems to reduce with age isn't necessarily that there are actually less severe symptoms, just that when your older youve had more time to learn to hide the symptoms better to avoid criticism

Man, this video really only scratches the surface on what autism looks like, but of course it would take a lot of time to do otherwise. It's nice to see more awareness, education, and myth-busting.

next level editing. Raising the bar to making important information easily accessible, digestible, and memorable for all people. Its really good, I love the new style

44 years old - I just discovered in the past year - the understanding of my life has changed so greatly. Thank you for the awareness video!

If there's one thing I've learned about the autism spectrum and my place on it, it's that it is categorically impossible to explain it to neurotypicals. Once I figured out how to put myself into a controlled shutdown condition, however, my employers noticed I was a lot more productive during the workweek. I spend the entire weekend so far into my own head that you'd be forgiven for thinking I was nonverbal and nonfunctioning. I'm just resting. My diagnosis was PDD-NOS back when PDD-NOS was still a thing. (data point for the spectrum + comment for the algorithm. Thank you for coming to my TED talk.)

"low social reciprocity" is a fun way to describe being rejected by peers. Wonder if that's on one of my charts somewhere.

Congratulations on your recovery Hank! Not sure if this is a new video, don’t usually comment under videos but happy to see you again, been watching since I was 14.

Growing up in the early 2000s was so hard with people not understanding my autism diagnosis

As an autistic person, I'm pretty happy with this video. I agree with others that it undersells the harms of ABA, but its far and away better than most videos regarding autism that I've seen produced by non-autistic people. Would love a follow up looking into the evolution of autism as a diagnosis more deeply. There are so many people out there that, if they know anything about autism at all, are functioning on scientific understandings 15 to 20 years out of date.

Being the parent of an autistic child has been a hell of a ride, that's for certain. We got my son's diagnosis at age 2, and the number of doors and amount of support it opens up is fantastic, especially compared to what families had to go through even ten years ago. The level of assistance for autistic children and adults continues to improve, and I'm glad that more and more programs are looking at support rather than conversion or "normalization." I can't wait to see where we're at in 5 years, let alone 10.

Thank you for taking such care with this video! I really appreciated the way you presented concepts like the history of autism, ABA, the diagnostic process and neurodiversity.

As an Austistic Biologist, ABA is scientifically problematic, and is not the only scientifically supported method for helping with autism, and its flawed in its goals. Rather than measuring success based on the well-being of an individual, it really emphasizes things like masking. And theres a lot of evidence that perpetual masking is extremely harmful.

I'm on the spectrum. I was diagnosed at the age of 7, so I knew early on I was different from everyone else. When I'm in public, I try to act like a neurotypical person ("masking") and I'm pretty good at it, but I wish I could express myself the way I want to. For a world that is increasingly focused on inclusivity, the stigma attached to autism still lives on. It's still considered socially acceptable to make fun of people who have it. The ableist slurs people used against me are still in wide use. It very much seems like an unconquered frontier in the fight for inclusivity, which is just unfortunate...

gosh i love it when people talk about autism without being a eugenicist about it. thank you for this!

I'm so glad you're doing a new video on this topic! I remember finding your video on Autism from a few years ago when I was trying to figure out if I was autistic about a year ago and being disappointed by the seemingly outdated information. Now a whole bunch of newly diagnosed or curious people will get to have more updated information!

When I was 27, my dad made an offhand comment that he’d long suspected that I’m on the spectrum. I’d never considered it before, and launched into a year of reading about specifically autistic women’s experiences (I am non-binary but was assigned female at birth). I was also able to find several self-report indices online, some created by autistic adults and one that is literally one of the empirically-validated indices used in professional diagnosis. The results were unambiguously positive. I repeatedly came across traits and behaviors that I’d always displayed and had no idea were associated with autism. I found that autism explained and connected so many diverse facets of my experience from toe-walking to my hypersensitivity to food textures to my intense and obsessive interests to my instinctual need to repeat sounds. To say this was absolutely revolutionary in my self-understanding is an understatement. Currently I am only self-diagnosed, and it’s likely to stay that way as an adult autism assessment isn’t covered by insurance in the US and costs upwards of $5,000.

A communication difference 👏 I liked that. I don’t like that ABA is considered training. People on the spectrum don’t need training, they need compassion and accommodations. 💕

I feel very frustrated by these comments as someone with level 2 autism spectrum disorder who say it’s not a disorder or a disability when it significantly impedes my life and I can’t function without my team of support workers. Please remember not to speak over people with medium and high support needs.

This video felt like 20 years of thorough recent research shoved into 20 mins... Although, there is a facet that wasn't covered into this as a possibility of causation for Autism Spectrum Behaviors, specifically Childhood Trauma. The notion that communication is different, not difficult or unachievable is honestly appreciated. Truthfully, the challenges of peer ship, interpersonal relationships, and even professional interaction in work settings can all be considered stressful or and even difficult on some occasions overall, but it's those on the spectrum that will have some of the more extreme anxieties outside of familiar settings and in new or intimidating situations. There is no one shade, size, or color and some might even be all at once, overlapping, and maybe even a few and not others.... There really isn't a best way to fully understand, but there will always be a way to achieve something better under the right kind of encouragement and support. That being said, it can be helpful in at least the smallest sense to try and understand how someone on the spectrum is able to communicate and help develop better social interaction. Admittedly, there is no one set strategy, and there is not a single answer on which type of behavioral therapy, routine regiment, or long term therapeutic conditions are best suitable... There is research being done, still, and yet there are at least 5 more questions that arise after we think we even come across one hopefully answer. The truth of the matter is, positivity and encouragement are the very best treatment towards anyone, on or off the 'Spectrum.'

As usual, nicly done! I appreciate the effort taken to comprehensively cover complex subjects. 👏👏👏 I've been team SciShow since 07' ❤

Real OG's remember the privated "remove" version.

I'm so glad to see autistic women being recognized more and more; when I was a kid I was so classically autistic it was plain to see yet my pediatrician never even considered it a possibility for me; it wasn't until moving onto different medical professionals and taking a subsequent in-depth psychiatric evaluation that my autism and adhd was FINALLY diagnosed and I cannot emphasize enough how much it made my whole life finally make sense. When I was a kid, I actually considered that possibly I was dropped here by aliens and just being watched like some kind of Truman Show (hadn't seen that at the time yet either) because I felt like I was so different and didn't understand why. I wish I had known sooner, because I think I would have been able to get the appropriate distress tolerance skills and other much needed skills as an autistic person through the right therapies and treatments (obviously there is no "treatment" for autism in the sense of curing, but I mean the supportive stuff learning how to adapt a little better to changes which we handle HORRIBLY more often than not and things like that)

Today I have learnt more about this condition than otherwise in decades. Thanks for putting this all into its place.

Tactful, well-researched, and squeezed into a twenty minute script. I applaud the SciShow writers for this video.

There is an odd paradox among those with high functioning autism. Those with more severe symptoms (ie. worse social skills) are actually better at making friends, and even dating, than those with mild symptoms. This is due to the fact that, because those with more severe symptoms are less self-aware when socializing, they have more confidence. Whereas those with mild symptoms are more self-conscious and are more likely to not even try socializing in fear of making a fool of themselves.

As an autistic, this was really nice to see. It feels comprehensive but also sensitive. I've never felt like I had a 'disease' or that I was necessarily 'disabled', Just different. It's really interesting to hear that verbal autistics are being found not to communicate badly, just differently, which has been my lived experience. My friends all tend to be neurodiverse, and normies tend to be really, really boring to talk to. I don't care about stocks, I don't care about the news, I don't want to talk politics, tell me about your hobbies. Talk to me about something you like to do or are interested in, ffs

"today" is the very, very important key word here! Our "understanding" particularly by the DSM, is in a state of flux and growth. Of course, if you listen to the neurodivergent community you will get a lot farther than most professionals in many ways but, that's just for now, almost everything about this subject has changed since I was a kid in the late 80s/early 90s and there has been significant progress, although we still have a very long way to go. I'm (for whatever it matters to whoever) formally diagnosed Autistic, Dysgraphic and ADHD. I'm also an educator with degrees in elementary education and special education. My number 1 opinion on the subject is listen to Autistic people. The most ignorant people I have ever met in my life regarding neurodiversity were psychologists and educators who felt like they were some how veteran experts despite everything they had ever learned being grossly outdated.

Thank you Hank ❤️ the ways you use your platforms never ceases to make me grateful

I love it when Psychology is covered by Sci-Show's main child! I was diagnosed with PDD-NOS as a kid, then Asperger's, and now ASD! As someone who is autistic (and more) this is reassuring.

I am a female with autism. But females very under diagnosed. Doctors didn't believe I was autistic because "I am smart", whatever that means.

I just sent this video to my parents because I’ve never come across a more concise and accessible explainer for how complex this issue can be. Thank you!!!

I really love the style change for the presentation. I feel like I'm retaining more information from this more conversational experience! Thanks so much for the always-awesome science videos!!

I’m neurospicy (autistic and ADHD) and a long time fan, Hank! Thank you for helping me feel seen in my and of our vast diversity across the non-linear spectrum!

As someone who works in the field this is a pretty good video. Although you said ABA is the only effective behavioral intervention which is just not true. Occupational therapists for example have their own behavioral programs.

Overall great video! Love to see these kind of topics covered. I've worked in the developmental disabilities field for almost 8 years now and it's really really hard for some of these folks to find the care that they need just because of targeting down what actually helps them communicate with people and the world is so difficult. And I get that you're generalizing but mentioning group homes. Group homes are the scourge of autism and developmental disabilities world. They are nothing but negative connotations when it comes to these people. Almost every single client I have ever worked with that's ever came out of a group home has said nothing but horrible things to say. They always talk as though they've been in prison. Makes me happy that I'm able to work in an Independent Supportive living situation with my clients. We are really really champion Day programs. They do so much for the clients that aren't able to go to 24-hour staffing, but they do so well and get so much enjoyment being around folks that are like them.

Thanks for making the video Hank! I think as someone who has Autism its half and half when it comes to being a "difference" versus a "disorder". Parts of it just change the way i experience things and communicate and theres nothing wrong with that. But theres also the extreme discomfort from certain stimulus, the overblown reactions to that discomfort, and all of the symptoms that actually negatively impact my life that makes me genuinely upset when people who dont have it tell ME its "not a disorder, just a difference". Sometimes its a difference and sometimes its a disorder and i think its healthiest to call it like it is (which is both).

3 years ago I discovered quite by accident that I am autistic, my Mom had been so fixated on my brother who was diagnosed at an early age, that they missed all of the same tells in myself. For decades I thought something was wrong with me but I could never figure it all out until 3 years ago when KZfaq for some very strange reason recommended a young woman’s video on female autism. For about a month I kept ignoring the video as it kept popping up, then it started popping up in every recommended listing regardless of my doing fixed searches on craft subjects that I finally clicked on it. To say it was life changing is an understatement. I had totally forgotten about the fact my brother who was sent to a special school as a child, I was never told why other than the fact he went to school with others like him. It was only after watching the video that I asked my Dad about my brother and why he went to the special school, that’s when he told me that my brother was autistic and the school he went to was to help modify his behaviour to function in society better. The video talked about how autism runs in siblings and in family lines. I have cousins who had children just like my brother who were more pronounced autistic and all of them were the boys in the group. Since then my cousins had their daughters tested because I told them that one of the magic tricks girls have is masking the symptoms of autism. They have all come back as autistic at varying levels but are better at coupling than their male counterparts. The very first sign that was never picked up for me was I hated being cuddled ever, my Mom use to joke about it as I grew up that even as a baby I hated being held. This was put down to the fact I was born 5 weeks early and as such premie babies are never held much due to the varies reasons related to the fact they always looked very fragile. Whereas in truth it was in fact the very first sign of autism but being the 60’s they never knew that then. It’s funny really I showed all of the signs of being autistic along side my brother but they were completely overlooked at the time. As I got older I got better at masking. The savant aspects I have only just figured out. I have always just gotten on with the job regardless of the task a just seemed to know what had to be done without being shown or told. I just knew I could do it. It’s just difficult to explain lol. I have never read a manual on any software programme that has been introduced to helping office work, like MS Word or any of their programs I just went in and used them. I have done this with so many programmes over the years. I can count on one hand the number of times that I have had to refer to a manual for any programme that I have used in my life. I was 9 years old the first time I started driving out on the farm and I had not been shown how to do it. It was simple as I had seen it done so many times when I had gone out with my uncle on the tractor I noticed what he was doing so I just mimicked what he had done. After that Dad would take me out to the abandoned airfield so I could drive the car. I never understood who so many of my class mates could never grasp the most basic things in woodwork class or metal work shop when it came to the tools that we had in class. The teacher would show us once and I got it. I could watch a cooking show and then produce that very same meal the next day for my parents. I did not know that this was part of what being a savant meant back in the 60’s - 70’s I was labeled as gifted. I can be driven somewhere and months even years later if I am in that area I could retrace the rout taken. It’s like I have been driving the same road to my Drs every 2 weeks for the past 10 years now and I notice when a tree has come down after a storm has gone through. Dad finds it funny as it all looks the same to him, it was like when there had been road works done, there is this huge boulder and it had gotten moved by a few metres but I noticed it, but Dad recons it had not moved. I pulled over to it and showed him where it use to be to where it is now, it was the only reason he believed me because he saw the actual changes in the ground. I can remember every book I have read but not word for word just the stories and because of this I will sit and read the books again because the story gets stuck in my head but somehow it’s a little mixed up, once I have re-read the book the story goes back into the corner of my memories all nicely in the correct order and leaves me alone. It’s the same with movies, in the past I would have to wait for them to make it back on TV in the old days before videos and DVD’s now I can buy the DVD and when the movie starts getting mixed up in my memories I sit and watch it again. The more I understand the spectrum of autism the more my past life suddenly becomes clearer and I finely understand myself so much better. Especially when it came to trying to show someone else how to do my job. I never realised how much more I had been doing in one of my jobs until the day I quite so I could travel. When I came back from my travels my old boss wanted me to come back lol, turned out he had to hire 2 people to do the work I had been doing on my own, because the one person they hired to replace me quite a month later because she could not coupe. I had asked him so many times when I had been working there that I needed help, they all thought I had been joking. For females with autism we tend to take on more than we should, we never complain. It’s one of the things noticed between boys and girls with autism, they can be given the same task as each other, but it’s handled differently and the girls tend to finish faster than the boys. Girls tend to mask from birth is one of the things I was told and that’s why girls have been over looked when they have a brother who is autistic. Many of the girls with brothers if diagnosed tend to be more pronounced than their brothers. Boys have to learn how to mask their autism that’s why my brother was sent to the special needs children’s school before high school so that when he did get to high school he would be able to coupe better with his autism. As you said they are learning so much more about the spectrums of autism especially when it runs in families. Between my brother and I it’s confusing I was born 5 weeks early but my brother was born 5 weeks over due. He was very pronounced autistic whereas I one year older was autistic but had already learnt to mask by the time he was diagnosed at the age of 5. Looking back to that time (yep my life I can see as clear today as if it was just yesterday) I was hiding and controlling what my brother could not or would not do at the same time. His constant crying drove me up the wall so much so I would find any reason to stay in my own room. The act of being able to look back at my life now that I’m 61 I can see so many of the red flags that are now finally being picked up in children now specially girls. At least they will not have to grow up thinking something was so very wrong with them but never being able to put a finger onto the very reasons as to why. I was labeled as very gifted but very shy and withdrawn. Even the past 3 years they have learnt so much more about autism in girls than they have ever known in the past 60 years. One of the best results is knowing that if one child has autism then the chances are that all of their siblings are also on the spectrum for autism and that’s why there are more girls diagnosed today. It also means that one of their parents are also autistic because they now know that it is genetically linked within their DNA in my family it’s through my GrandMother she was a savant musically, she could play any tune after hearing it once, she could play it on the flute. She was also one of Scotland’s top 10 Dux award winners when she finished school at 16. It has only been in her children and grand children that have the autism showing up there has not been anything on GrandPa’s side of the family, except for those who’s partner has it in their line. The Best part of having 80% of your family still living back in the Shetlands it’s easy to find family traits.

I have ADHD and autism... I wasn't diagnosed until I was 49 (2019) Before that I was diagnosed (at age 22) with depression, anxiety, borderline personality disorder, bipolar disorder, PTSD, and CPTSD. While I do have PTSD and CPTSD, once I got off ALL 13 psychiatric medications that I'd been on for nearly 30 YEARS, I started to wake up and realize that I'm just fine! I'm quirky, and weird, and fun, and a deep thinker, and an overthinking. But I'm also a writer, a photographer, a mother and wife, as well as a great cook and baker, a fantastic gardener, awesome with all animals, an avid reader, a world traveler..... I'm so much more. I've learned over the past few years from of all places.... Pinterest! More about who I am as an older adult WOMAN with ADHD and Autism. I'm 54 now, and am happier than I've ever been in my entire life.

This is the best comprehensive summary of autism I have seen. Thank you for making it. I feel very misunderstood by what most people think autism is.

*IM 54 AND WAS DIAGNOSED* last year - it was a genuine shock to me - Im pretty high scoring as well, it changes nothing and it changes everything. Mostly it just allows me to be me without the guilt of being me - which was literally beat into me as a kid at school inn the 1970's where the cure for divergence was a sound thrashing

31 year old white male here. Just FINALLY got my diagnosis a few months ago after years of work. Some of my symptoms got better with age, some got much worse. Thank you for making me feel seen and heard. #dftba

Thank you for not using autism speaks as a source for this video

My brother was diagnosed at age 2 (I was 5) and it was back when they had the weird scale from 1-16, and he was put at a 13, and his prognosis was that he would be nonverbal and need a lot of support. 17 years later he’s doing great! Verbal, absolutely loves trains, and volunteers at a local museum. He graduated high school, which was something my parents weren’t sure he would be able to. I (21 F) never presented the way that was “typical,” I made eye contact, was very talkative, and pretty outgoing. The hyperfixations on different topics that would change week to week, along with the need for adherence to routine were some of the early signs, but I still went all through my childhood without a diagnosis, even though I have a sibling who was diagnosed so early. It was likely because of the fact that, at the time, it wasn’t really seen that AFAB individuals could be autistic. I’m doing a lot better now, and am able to get the support I need and will be finishing a bachelors this spring!

Such a complex and difficult topic to talk about... Yet they absolutely nailed it. Amazing work, well done.

My audhd (adhd and autism) self checking in for this video! Wish there were more resources out there to help us, adult autistic ppl have basically zero safety net and only 17% of us are employed bc no one is willing to accommodate us.

Adult female Autistic here, and you're absolutely right about community. I was diagnosed with almost everything under the sun, moon and stars before I finally self-advocated and got myself screened. I initially did it to try and circumvent my seemingly undiagnosable, extremely disruptive nerve pain to get disability. But the community I've found after my diagnosis has completely changed my world for the better. I no longer have the perpetual feeling of being homesick. I finally belong somewhere.

This was super interesting, huge kudos to the entire team for the work that went into this video! Would really be interested in a longer lecture like the one John made on Tuberculosis but about autism instead. This was super good but also a little too fast paced for me ; something longer, slower, and a bit more in depth would be amazing. Also that background is peak Hankcore, it's dope

I love this format - I've missed deep dive, long format media. Thank you for this.