5 year old hitting

Did something happen a month ago that was a change? Some kind of transition? 

Children are too young, they are responsive and mirroring what they see (sometimes poorly as they don't have all the context).Or just communicating how they're impacted however they can. They won't have years of therapy, a School of Life bookshelf of "becoming my best self" and Twitter to let it all out on. They'll just have you to hopefully interpret their expressions, distress signals, and try to "hear" their deepest needs. So how can we help?

If you have a little more detail as to what specifically she's responding to, we might be able to help make sense. 

Autistic children tend to be so overwhelmed that it's difficult for them to think or pause before responding. Some feel assaulted by frequencies which adults have lost their hearing to or chemicals in their gut and lungs from cleaning agents. At the extreme is epilepsy with light sensitivity, but LEDs and fluorescents can create a low-grade stress where one only needs a little push into a full meltdown. At night, if I'm somewhere there is no Natural Light source (a flame, halogen) I start having trouble breathing - see lightaware.org And then there's the emotional impact: They can feel isolated from feeling wildly misunderstood. Interruptions are like waking a sleepwalker: https://monotropism.org And because we cannot filter sensory signals, which include unidentified emotions, everything comes at us internally and externally as Intense. 

So the modern world isn't easy for us. But perhaps we can help you if you'd like to share more of what's happening during these episodes. On the chance she's learned this is a type of game or obstacle course and she's misunderstood a social interaction, it may be important to find a way to become more 'parental'. Children are never our 'friends', our opponents or our equals. We will always be in the role of a mentor, a sage, a support - able to weather and help contain their difficulties, a constant source of assurance.

Did something happen a month ago that was a change? Some kind of transition? 

Children are too young, they are responsive and mirroring what they see (sometimes poorly as they don't have all the context).Or just communicating how they're impacted however they can. They won't have years of therapy, a School of Life bookshelf of "becoming my best self" and Twitter to let it all out on. They'll just have you to hopefully interpret their expressions, distress signals, and try to "hear" their deepest needs. So how can we help?

If you have a little more detail as to what specifically she's responding to, we might be able to help make sense. 

Autistic children tend to be so overwhelmed that it's difficult for them to think or pause before responding. Some feel assaulted by frequencies which adults have lost their hearing to or chemicals in their gut and lungs from cleaning agents. At the extreme is epilepsy with light sensitivity, but LEDs and fluorescents can create a low-grade stress where one only needs a little push into a full meltdown. At night, if I'm somewhere there is no Natural Light source (a flame, halogen) I start having trouble breathing - see lightaware.org And then there's the emotional impact: They can feel isolated from feeling wildly misunderstood. Interruptions are like waking a sleepwalker: https://monotropism.org And because we cannot filter sensory signals, which include unidentified emotions, everything comes at us internally and externally as Intense. 

So the modern world isn't easy for us. But perhaps we can help you if you'd like to share more of what's happening during these episodes. On the chance she's learned this is a type of game or obstacle course and she's misunderstood a social interaction, it may be important to find a way to become more 'parental'. Children are never our 'friends', our opponents or our equals. We will always be in the role of a mentor, a sage, a support - able to weather and help contain their difficulties, a constant source of assurance.