Past research indicates that newspaper representations of developmental disability reinforce negative stereotypes. The aim of this study was to examine depictions of autism in British newspapers. A qualitative content and discourse analysis of newspaper accounts of autism was conducted over four 1-month time points, every 3 years, between May 1999 and May 2008. The analysis indicated that conceptualisations of autism could be categorised under three themes: missing voices; the burden of autism; and, sensationalising, misconceptions and misuse of a label. Autism was also portrayed in a standardised and homogenised way that failed to recognise human diversity, and the focus predominated on childhood and third-hand accounts of autism.