About autism
Autism is a natural variation in the way the brain develops and the way it processes information. This means that autistic children experience, understand and interact with the world in particular ways.
Autism is a type of neurodivergence.
About autistic children
Social communication
Autistic children might interact and communicate verbally and non-verbally by:
- looking away when they communicate with other people
- using very literal language
- using gestures instead of words to communicate.
Autistic children might not meet typical language development milestones.
Special interests
Autistic children might have special interests in certain objects, subjects or toys. For example, they might collect only sticks or trains, be interested in football statistics, or know a lot about underwater creatures.
These special interests or passions might be brief or lifelong. They’re an integral part of autistic children’s lives and bring them a lot of joy.
Repetitive behaviour
Autistic children might enjoy:
- lining things up, like cars
- reciting lines from TV shows, podcasts or music
- doing things repeatedly, like flicking a light switch
- stimming – for example, grunting, throat-clearing, squealing, body-rocking or hand-flapping.
Sensory sensitivities
Autistic children might:
- be sensitive to the environment – for example, they might be easily upset by certain sounds or bright lights
- seek out sensations – for example, they might seek vibrating objects like the washing machine, or flutter fingers to the side of their eyes to watch the light flicker.
Other characteristics
Autistic children might:
- like their environment to stay the same – for example, they might eat only foods with a certain texture, or wear the same clothes each day
- enjoy the safety and predictability of rules and structure
- find transitions or sudden changes difficult or overwhelming.
raisingchildren.net.au uses identity-first language to talk about autism, rather than person-first language. This involves referring to ‘autistic children’, for example, rather than to ‘children with autism’. Many autistic people prefer this approach.
What causes autism?
We don’t know exactly what causes autism. There might be several causes, including brain development and genetic factors.
The brains of autistic children tend to grow faster than average during early childhood, especially during the first 3 years of life. We don’t know why this rapid growth happens. But it means that in autistic children, parts of the brain communicate with each other in an atypical way.
Evidence strongly suggests a genetic basis to autism. But it’s unlikely that one specific gene is responsible for autism. It’s more likely that several genes combine and act together. Researchers have found many possible genes that might play a role in the development of autism.
Signs of autism
Early signs of autism usually appear before children are 2 years old. Some children have many early signs, whereas others have only a few. The number of signs varies according to children’s ages and the effect that autism has on their everyday lives.
First year of life
At this time in the lives of children who are later diagnosed with autism, there might be signs of autism in their social and communication development. For example, children might:
- prefer to look away when they communicate with other people
- not make much eye contact
- rarely point to or hold up objects as a way of communicating.
Toddlers
Signs of autism become more noticeable as children start talking and playing with other children. For example, autistic children might:
- be more interested in playing by themselves and not do pretend play
- play with toys and objects in unexpected ways – for example, they might enjoy lining up objects or putting toys into piles
- communicate by mimicking or repeating other people’s words or phrases or words they’ve heard on TV
- get upset if they have to stop talking about or engaging in their special interest.
Preschoolers, school-age children, pre-teens and teenagers
Signs of autism in older children and teenagers might become more noticeable. This can happen as children and teenagers find themselves in overwhelming environments like primary and secondary school. If children have been hiding or masking their autism, they might find it hard to keep doing this.
As children get older, they’re likely to go through more changes and transitions, like the move from primary to secondary school. These experiences can be overwhelming for children and make their autism signs more noticeable.
Autism diagnosis
Autism can be diagnosed between 12 and 18 months, but diagnosis is usually from around 2 years of age.
Autism diagnosis might involve one or more professionals, including psychologists, paediatricians or speech pathologists. It might also involve several assessments.
There’s no single test for autism. Instead, diagnosis is based on:
- watching how children play and interact with others – that is, how children are developing now
- reviewing children’s developmental history – that is, how children have developed in the past
- interviewing parents
- asking early childhood educators and school teachers to fill out questionnaires.
If children get a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder, it will include support levels, which range from ‘requiring support’ to ‘requiring very substantial support’. These levels show how much help children need with their social communication skills and their repetitive and/or sensory behaviour.
Health professionals will also assess children’s language and cognitive abilities.
Children who show difficulties only in social communication might be diagnosed with social communication disorder, rather than autism spectrum disorder.
Concerns about your child’s development: what to do
If you’re concerned about your child’s development, it’s best to act early and make an appointment with a professional. The earlier you can find out more, the more you can support your child. For example, you could talk to your child and family health nurse or GP .
Languages other than English
- Arabic (PDF: 182kb)
- Dari (PDF: 195kb)
- Dinka (PDF: 228kb)
- Hakha Chin (PDF: 167kb)
- Karen (PDF: 201kb)
- Persian (PDF: 203kb)
- Simplified Chinese (PDF: 294kb)
- Swahili (PDF: 169kb)
- Tamil (PDF: 229kb)
- Vietnamese (PDF: 231kb)