Our charity has published the results of a new survey which shows autistic people are experiencing discrimination in public due to the increase in harmful and untruthful conversations about autism in the media and by politicians.

We asked 1,759 people a range of questions on how misinformation about autism was impacting autistic people’s lives, including their willingness to share that they’re autistic and how misinformation impacts them going out in public.

The results show:

• A staggering 98% expressed concern about misinformation.
• 84% said they believed the volume of misinformation about autism had increased in the past two years.
• Eight in 10 autistic people believe autism is inaccurately represented – both in the media and online.
• In the last year, the top three places to hear misinformation was in the mainstream media 1,484 (84%), on social media 1,362 (77%), from politicians or other public figures 1,272 (72%).

Autistic people experience some of the starkest inequalities in our society:

• They are three times more likely to die by suicide than non-autistic people.
• They are twice as likely to be excluded from school than non-SEND students.
• Only three in 10 autistic people are in work, one of the lowest employment rates and face the widest pay gap among disabled people.
• A previous survey by our charity found that half (55%) of autistic people avoid going out because they are worried how people will treat them.

Our comment

Mel Merritt, Head of Policy and Influencing at the National Autistic Society, said: “Like everyone, autistic people want to be understood but an increase in harmful misinformation about autism is making that harder. Our survey has found that because of misinformation, autistic people are being dismissed or denied support when they try to get help from doctors or at school. Shockingly, more than half the people who responded to our survey said they’d felt afraid even about revealing their autism diagnosis.

“Those spreading harmful misinformation from politicians, celebrities and media organisations need to realise the direct harm this is causing autistic people.  These harmful debates are a distraction from the real and urgent issues facing autistic people.  The overwhelming majority of those felt the Government, tech companies and media alike needed to take more action to counter or prevent misinformation.

“We are calling on the Government to play its part in challenging myths and misrepresentations about autism including false claims about diagnosis, causes or prevalence.”
 
Holly, Young Campaigner at the National Autistic Society, said: “The amount of misinformation that we're seeing and hearing about autism is increasing, and now it's coming from some of the most powerful mouths in the world. It's really painful and alienating as an autistic person to hear that. It's becoming even more difficult to fight against the wave of that misinformation. It's difficult enough as it is to inform the public and health care professionals about autism, without more and more misinformation being fed to us. It's just promoting division and misunderstanding."

About the survey

Our charity surveyed 1,759 people in the UK in September 2026, a self-selecting group from an online survey. Of the 1,759 respondents, 1,068 (61%) were autistic people, 871 (50%) were parents and carers for an autistic person, 574 (33%) had an autistic relative, 408 (23%) knew someone autistic, 207 (12%) were professional working in the autism field and 68 (4%) had another connection with autism.

Further information

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Read more about how we’re tackling misinformation.
Read our recent blogs about the importance of accurate information about autism.