Easy read and translate
What is autism?
An autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder which affects the way a person communicates with and relates to other people and the world around them. The way in which people are affected varies from one individual to another and by age and intellectual functioning.
Explore the topics on this page:
What is autism?
Children with ASDs are affected in a variety of ways and to very different degrees. This is why it’s called ‘the autistic spectrum’. Autism can affect children with any level of intellectual ability, from those who are profoundly learning disabled, to those with average or high intelligence. So, having ASD doesn’t necessarily mean that you have learning difficulties.
The more seriously affected children at one end of the spectrum have learning difficulties as well and require high levels of support. At the other end of the spectrum, some people with ‘high-functioning autism’ are very intelligent academically. They may go on to be successful in their chosen field. However, they still experience significant social and communication difficulties.
"It's as if your child's brain has been wired up in a different way to usual. This doesn't change, but the ways in which it shows itself, and the extent to which it shows itself, do change." Early Support
"It's nothing to that you've done. A child doesn't become autistic. It's in them already. They don't learn to be autistic." Early Support
What are the signs?
Children with ASDs have significant difficulties relating to other people and have differences in the way their communication skills develop. These differences mean that children with autism experience the world very differently. The core impairments in children with ASD are
- social interaction - difficulty understanding social ‘rules’, behaviour and relationships, for example, appearing indifferent to other people or not understanding how to take turns
- social communication - difficulty with verbal and non-verbal communication, for example, not fully understanding the meaning of common gestures, facial expressions or tone of voice
- rigidity of thinking and difficulties with social imagination - difficulty in the development of (or differences in the nature of) their play, and interactive play with other children and imagination, for example, having a limited range of imaginative activities, possibly copied and pursued rigidly and repetitively.
It is usual that all children with a diagnosis of autism have difficulties in all of these areas. However, the ways in which these show themselves vary a lot.
Other common differences in children with autism are sensory issues and anxiety (but these are not seen in every child with autism and so are not needed for a diagnosis).
