Autism is a neurological difference that impacts how a person develops. There are three main areas of difference: 

Communication and interaction: Differences in understanding and expressing communication and language, ranging from some individuals with little speech to those who are very articulate but still find communication hard. There are also differences in social understanding and understanding the feelings of others, which can influence building relationships. 

Sensory processing: Differences in processing sensory information, such as touch, smell, hearing, taste, vision, body balance and body awareness. Some individuals may react more strongly to these (hyper-sensitive), while others may seek these stimulations (hypo-sensitive). 

Flexible thinking and information processing: Differences in planning and processing information. This can influence generalisation and understanding of concepts. There may also be intense interest in specific topics or areas. 

These differences could also bring some unique skills and talents, which could provide a different way of understanding and being. To acknowledge this difference, none of the resources in this suite use the word ‘disorder’. We have used the word autism or autism spectrum. Some people on the autism spectrum consider autism as the core of their self-identity and prefer using identity-first language, such as ‘autistic person’. Others feel that autism does not define them as an individual and prefer individual-first language, such as ‘person with autism’. In acknowledgement of these differing views and the fact that most of the research around preference of terminology does not include children’s voices, we have used a combination of terminology based on whether the resource is for adults or children.