Autism spectrum disorder is a disease we don’t really know a lot about. There are many studies currently going on trying to learn about ASD and its causes or effects. ASD has many different forms as it’s a spectrum disorder. Due to its many different forms there are many misconceptions about autism. To many people autism means the person is violent, nonverbal, and can’t stand to be touched. Most people also assume they are male. These misconceptions are incredibly hurtful to autistic people who don’t fit that criteria because people don’t believe them when they say they are autistic. Autism is a spectrum and some forms of autism can mean being nonverbal or sometimes violent, but other forms of autism can mean autistic people enjoy being hugged and other forms of touch or avoiding social interactions. Boys are much more likely to be diagnosed with autism than girls. This can be due in part to girls seem to need to have more of their genetics affected than boys to have autism and often girls go undiagnosed because they are often better at masking their symptoms than boys. These things together have created a gender bias in the diagnosis of autism towards boys being more likely to be diagnosed than girls. Another common misconception about autism are its causes. Some people believe autism is caused by bad or cold parenting which is completely false. Autism is not a mental disorder, it is a neurological one and while specific causes are unknown we know things that can increase the risk of autism like having a sibling with autism, having certain genetic or chromosomal conditions, birth complications, and being born to older parents. Autism has no cure, but in many cases intensive and early behavioral treatment can help reduce severity of symptoms and help autistic people develop adaptive skills for daily life. Autism spectrum disorder currently has many studies going on about it. The more we learn about ASD the more we can do to help and understand people with ASD.