Washington (SmartAboutHealth) - Researchers have found that kids with autism may have trouble communicating because their brains take longer to process sounds.

Researchers were led by Timothy Roberts from the Department of Radiology at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and focused on 30 autistic kids between the ages of 6 and 15.

The study was done using technology known as MEG or magnetoencephalography to see how they reacted to certain sounds.

What they found was that kids with autism reacted anywhere from 20% to 50% slower to the sounds than those without autism.

The findings were presented at a meeting of the Radiological Society of North America.