How To Explain To Your Child What Autism Is

This article features advice from Dr Georgia Pavlopoulou, Associate Professor at children’s mental health charity Anna Freud, and director of Autism Central.

As awareness and understanding of autism grows, rates of diagnosis are rising too – there was a 787% increase in autism diagnoses in the UK between 1998 and 2018.

If your child has been diagnosed, you might not know how to explain this to them in an age-appropriate way.

Dr Georgia Pavlopoulou, Associate Professor at children’s mental health charity Anna Freud, told HuffPost UK: “For younger children, autism can be explained by saying: ‘Everyone’s brain works in different ways. Your brain has its own way of noticing things, communicating, learning and feeling.’”

Reframing Autism recommends talking about how physical differences between people are normal, and the same goes for differences of the brain.

For older children, a little extra detail might be warranted.

Dr Pavlopoulou suggested parents could say something like: “Autism means your brain experiences and processes the world in its own way. This can shape how you communicate, how your senses respond to things like sounds, lights or textures, and how your mind thinks about ideas and interests.

“These differences can bring strengths, such as creativity, deep focus on things you care about, or noticing details others might miss, while also meaning that some environments or expectations might not always work well for you.”

As part of this conversation, it can also help to connect your explanation to your child’s own experiences. For example, why they might love focusing on certain interests, need quieter spaces at times, or prefer different ways of communicating.

Dr Pavlopoulou, who is also the director of Autism Central, a peer support service for the support network of autistic people, suggested that once a child is diagnosed, they can begin to better understand themselves and their experiences.

“Creating a sense of safety, acceptance and positivity can really help,” she said. “Avoid terms like ‘there’s something wrong’ or ‘we need to fix this’ or ‘superpower’ narratives.

“Instead, focus on offering support and understanding, and emphasising that autism is a natural difference in how people think, learn and experience the world.”

The expert urged parents to give their children space to ask questions and share their thoughts and feelings following their diagnosis. It can also help to reassure them that how they feel about it can evolve over time.

She ended: “What matters most is that they feel supported, respected and understood.”