Five lesser-known autism signs in children that can be missed easily

An expert has shared five less obvious signs of autism that can be spotted in children at a young age.

Conor McDonagh, the owner and director of Caerus Therapies, offers autism assessments and support for people looking to source a diagnosis. He is also a specialist occupational therapist, with sensory integration certification and expertise in occupational therapy and applied social studies.

The expert shares advice on his TikTok account often when it comes to autism, reports Gloucestershire Live.

Among his videos, Conor shared a clip on five less obvious signs of autism with the video titled: "There are a few of many signs of autism on my experience."

Conor said: "Let’s look at the top five less obvious signs of autism that I experience as an autism assessor. My name is Conor McDonagh from Caerus Therapies, I’ve completed over 350 autism assessments."

Read on below to find out more.

Five less obvious signs of autism

Issues with processing information

Conor said: "One of the most common things that I experience that is not very obviously autistic is when a child has difficulties with processing information. So they’ve got very rigid thought patterns, they lack creativity or the ability to problem solve situations. They may also have difficulties with focus and concentration and they often have difficulties with following a number of instructions."

Problems with coordination and movement

He added: "Another less obvious sign of autism that I often experience is when a child has difficulties with coordinating their movements. So they may have poor fine and gross motor skills. So fine motor skills are the more delicate tasks that we do like fastening buttons or writing, and gross motor skills refer to the bigger movements like kicking and catching for example."

Poor sleep patterns

Conor explained: "The third less obvious sign of autism in my experience is when children have difficulties with poor sleep patterns because children with autism produce less melatonin."

Difficulties with food

The expert added: "The fourth less obvious sign that I often encounter is when children have difficulties with feeding or eating. So they can be fussy about the types of food that they eat, they tend to have a very beige diet and they don’t like to try new foods."

Issues going to the toilet

Conor said: “The fifth less obvious sign that I often encounter is when a child has difficulties with toileting, so they’re not meeting the milestones that you would typically expect of a child of that age."

He added: "This can be for a variety of reasons, for example they may have difficulties with sensory processing, the smells and the noises coming from toilets, or they may have difficulties with understanding the steps that they need to take to do this.”

NHS signs of autism

Signs of autism in young children include:

• not responding to their name

• avoiding eye contact

• not smiling when you smile at them

• getting very upset if they do not like a certain taste, smell or sound

• repetitive movements, such as flapping their hands, flicking their fingers or rocking their body

• not talking as much as other children

• not doing as much pretend play

• repeating the same phrases

Signs of autism in older children include:

• not seeming to understand what others are thinking or feeling

• unusual speech, such as repeating phrases and talking ‘at’ others

• liking a strict daily routine and getting very upset if it changes

• having a very keen interest in certain subjects or activities

• getting very upset if you ask them to do something

• finding it hard to make friends or preferring to be on their own

• taking things very literally – for example, they may not understand phrases like "break a leg"

• finding it hard to say how they feel