08/09/2025
Rethinking Autism Beyond the Diagnosis 🌈
If you are a child psychologist, allied health therapist, paediatrician, child psychiatrist or a parent of autistic kids or youth.
You’ll know this: no two autistic children present the same way.
Some struggle with aggression, some with anxiety, others with social isolation, school avoidance, or big feelings that overwhelm them. Some thrive with minimal support despite early develipmental delays, while others require intensive help navigating daily transitions, and so on...
The DSM (Diagnostic Statistical Manual) gives us a structure for identifying autism traits and categorising support needs. But it doesn’t answer the deeper questions:
👉 Why do children with the same diagnostic level present so differently?
👉 How can we make sense of these variations in a way that helps families and professionals alike?
Over years of listening, observing, and working alongside children and their families, I (Dr Krishna) began to notice distinct clusters of characteristics based on "inter-sectionality" of associated neurodiversities. Patterns that helped better understand each child’s perspective, their struggles, and their strengths.
This led to the development of the Rainbow Model of Autism Understanding — a dynamic way of viewing autistic experiences through the metaphor of colours.
This isn't a diagnostic framework or alternative to existing research. It is a philosophical and psychosocial way of understanding complexity of individual situations.
Each “colour” reflects a unique social-emotional profile, shaped not only by innate differences and lived experiences but also by the micro-environment of parents, educators, peers, therapists, and others who surround the child.
Each colour is dynamic, a child can be shifting from one to other profile based on the supports or adversities they face! There can be combined profiles too!
✨ My (Dr Krishna's) new book, “What’s My Colour on the Spectrum?”, explores these seven colour profiles, their challenges, and most importantly, the supports that can truly make a difference.
This work is not just for clinicians — but for anyone in a child’s micro-environment who wants to understand their needs more deeply and help them flourish!
If you’d like to explore this perspective with us, we'd love for you to check out the book here:
https://www.amazon.com.au/Whats-My-Colour-Spectrum-supporting-ebook/dp/B0FPCPGYQY?utm_source=chatgpt.com
🌈 Because every child deserves to be seen!
