The NHS website says autistic people may find it hard to communicate and interact with other people.

Below is what young people told us: 

• “Some find it difficult to talk to new people and say it takes time to get to know someone new.”
• “Some don’t like talking in general.” 
• “Some struggle with communication with things such as stuttering and can prefer to use other forms of communication like Makaton or sign language.” 
• “Some like to be descriptive and precise when they talk.” 
• “Can struggle to start a conversation but engage if someone starts it.” 
• “Can struggle if someone isn’t engaging/ just listening.”
• “Some find one they start talking it’s hard to stop which can result in talking over people and feeling bad.” 
• “Can feel like a burden to their friends and family when they do struggle or find it hard to trust people and call them ‘friends’ if they’re overly nice when they are struggling.” 
• “Like to make people laugh and have a joke.” 
• “Don’t communicate in a conversational way. It’s not wrong just different.”  

The NHS website says autistic people find it hard to understand how other people think or feel

Below is what young people told us:

• “Some may struggle to control emotions and can find it difficult to understand the emotions of others which can make conversations difficult.”
• “Social cues can be hard to understand i.e. sarcasm, eye contact, body language.”
• “Silences in conversations an make some question “have I overstepped boundaries?”
• “Some find they can work around their difficulties by finding ways around them such as looking at someone’s forehead so it looks like you’re making eye contact if keeping eye contact is difficult.”

The NHS website says autistic people find things like bright lights or loud noises overwhelming, stressful or uncomfortable.

Below is what young people told us:

• “Hypersensitivity to bright light and loud noises.”
• “Some can be bothered by them and in turn get stressed whereas some can find them stimulating.”
• “Some only find issues with lights when they move around.”
• “Some can find issues with the opposite such as lack of noise or light.”
• “Can find objects to distract them from lights and noises i.e. stress toys, noise cancelling headphones, being on their phone or fresh air.”

The NHS website says autistic people get anxious or upset about unfamiliar situations and social events.

Below is what young people told us:

• “Crowds can bother some but not all and can result in them feeling stressed and preferring to stay in the house and isolated.”
• “Some don’t like physical contact.”
• “Prefer to be in social events that are autism friendly/ have sensory specific areas i.e. Alton Towers and Newcastle Winter Wonderland.”

The NHS website says autistic people take longer to understand information.

Below is what young people told us:

• “Some suffer from short term memory less and will need to have information repeated to them which can result in them feeling stressed.”
• “May like to follow specific routines – can get anxious if things change, cancel or find overwhelming.”
• “Some can procrastinate due to stress and overthinking.”
• “Some don’t have issues with overthinking and find it doesn’t have an impact on them.”

The NHS website says autistic people do or think the same things over and over.

Below is what young people told us:

• “May dwell on things and overthink.” 
• “Can wonder “have I done or said the right/ wrong thing?”
• “Sometimes have flashbacks to certain situations and contemplate what they could have done differently. Often to an unhelpful degree.” 
• “A lot of people with autism have a specialist subject they are interested in. For example, maths, writing, robotics, art.”