Autistic people may act in a different way to other people. Autistic people may:
- Find it hard to communicate and interact with other people
- Find it hard to understand how other people think or feel
- Find things like bright lights or loud noises overwhelming, stressful or uncomfortable
- Get anxious or upset about unfamiliar situations and social events
- Take longer to understand information
- Do or think the same things over and over
Being autistic does not mean you have an illness or disease. It means your brain works in a different way from other people.
It's something you're born with. Signs of autism might be noticed when you're very young, or not until you're older. If you're autistic, you're autistic your whole life.
Autism is not a medical condition with treatments or a 'cure'. But some people need support to help them with certain things.
Resources
- Sesame Street Communities covers information about various topics including autism through articles, workshops and videos
- The National Autistic Society - What is autism?
- NHS - Autism