What is this myth about contagious yawning?

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Hi, I'm new to this site! I have autism spectrum disorder. Nice to meet you all. My first question is actually something I posted elsewhere. I'm hoping to get some more responses as I've only had a few so far. So i guess I'll just copy and paste the question:

In one of the groups I participate in we were sent an autism quiz to see how much we know about our own condition. The test was in true or false format and one of the statements was "People with autism are contagious to yawning."

I answered "true" because I know for a fact I have yawned when one of my family members yawned. But apparently this is the wrong answer according to the quiz. This led me to do google what the actual answer was and also question my own existence for the last 11 years since being diagnosed, but tests only seem to have been carried out on children. Despite what the clickbait headlines say, in the actual articles they say "autistic children show diminished signs of catching yawns from people. " That means not all of them then, right?

Other articles mention "30% of the participants with autism showed signs of contagious yawning". So it seems the statement in the quiz is factually incorrect and I'm confused why it's even in said quiz to begin with.

Also the fact there doesn't appear to be any scientific research on adults with autism on this subject, or a least there wasn't any I could find, reinforces my belief that this statement should not be included in the quiz. This is actually stressing me out a lot to be honest. Because now I'm having thoughts of being misdiagnosed if this statement is indeed true!

So here's my question to you guys:

Have you ever yawned when someone else has?

Yeah, I have and I'm formally diagnosed too.

It's all related to mirroring neurons which can be off in some people on the spectrum.

Sadly, a lot of people don't understand statistics and their role; 30% might be a minority but it's a big one and only an utter idiot would ignore it

So, no, the statement isn't universality true and your diagnosis isn't invalid based on it.

Try not to stress about it too much, and btw, welcome to the forum!

Welcome to WP

I’ve honestly never noticed if I do or don’t: interesting, I’ll try to remember to look out for it.

I’m undiagnosed (seen various professionals who think it’s the case, but none of them have had the proper authority to conduct a formal assessment & diagnose).

As bender says: statistically true doesn’t mean true in all cases, don’t worry about it.

Sounds like another wrong idea that was mostly correct pre-spectrum and now is mostly incorrect .

Thanks for the replies. I think I should let them know this is wrong haha Or at least not suitable for a true or false setting!

I even yawned when looking at the title of this because it made me think of it. But yes I copy yawns and am formally diagnosed. Also I don't think there would ever be a symptom that EVERY single one of us would fit. If I were you I wouldn't doubt my diagnosis based on this.

It's not universal, but yes, I have been officially diagnosed with autism and I do experience contagious yawning. When a friend or family member yawns, I am usually quick to follow.

Just reading the title makes me yawn. No joke. I am the hyper-empathetic ASD type. I'm always crying and cheering and yawning, when I see people, when I think about people. Of course I spend most of my time alone b/c many people are annoyed with a person who cries and cheers and yawns more than anyone else and it's exhausting for me to have to control it.

I yawn sometimes if I see someone else yawning and it is hillarious in my family because my Mum almost yawns every time! My brother sometimes winds her up and pretends to yawn and she yawns! Haha! One thing I do know is that I am almoat certain that if I am on the spectrum, my Mum is highly likely to be as well, BUT going back to the origional question. It would not surprize me to find out that people who are not on the spectrum would just as likely to yawn if they saw another person yawn as someone who is on the spectrum, as I don't actually see a major difference. I could be wrong. One thing I do know is that I am yawning now as I am typing this! HAHAHA!

Title made me yawn too and am formally diagnosed twice over.

Others' yawns only have an effect on me if I'm very tired. Otherwise, no effect.

There are very few discrete things which are true for all autistic people.