Common challenges in the middle years

Anxiety

Anxiety is a normal part of all children’s development, but research confirms that young people with autism experience elevated levels of anxiety in comparison to their typically developing peers.

Transitions

Young people with autism can find change particularly stressful. Due to the behavioural, information processing and sensory aspects of their diagnosis, young people on the autism spectrum often prefer familiar environments with a predictable routine.

Starting High School

An important vertical transition that faces most young people with autism during the middle years is the transition to secondary education.

Puberty

Puberty can be a time of mixed feelings for the young person on the autism spectrum and their parents/carers.

Bullying

Bullying can happen to people of all ages and abilities but young people with developmental differences or disabilities are especially vulnerable. Bullying involves an imbalance of power and takes physical or psychological form. Psychological bullying includes threatening, coercive and manipulative behaviour.