Therapy for children with autism may be more successful if it is designed with an understanding of how children with autism process sounds.

This article reviews recent research in the area of how people with autism process sounds. Some scientists believe that troubles in processing sound are so common in people with autism that it should be part of the list of symptoms used to diagnose autism. This problem with sounds can also be seen with tests that look at the brainstem and other parts of the brain that process sounds. Differences between the brains people with autism and control groups are most obvious when looking at how the brain responds to a human voice. The author believes that these differences can get in the way of some autism therapies.