Do kids with autism understand holidays? Like Santa, or Hanukkah, dressing up for Halloween etc?

My son is 4, almost 5. He is autistic and doesn’t really seem to get christmas, and he had a hard time understanding Halloween too. I thought it was due to his age, but it seems other kids younger than him do understand?

My friends son is 3, and he was excitedly telling me about what Santa is bringing him and all the silly things the elf does. Telling me Santa was gonna come down the chimney and he was gonna make him cookies.

I’m not going to lie, I got a little sad. My son hasn’t asked for anything for Christmas. He doesn’t even notice when I move the elf. He doesn’t get excited when he sees the Christmas tree. I always thought maybe he was too little but seeing other kids reactions kind of made me sad. I know it’s so trivial, but i would love for him to be excited for the holidays.

My son also didn’t understand Halloween really. He didn’t ask to be anything. I ended up picking out his costume for him, and it was chase from paw patrol and he loves paw patrol. He didn’t really seem excited for his costume, more so confused. I thought ah maybe next year but now I’m wondering, maybe not.

I know every kid with autism is different. So some autistic kids may understand. But is this a common thing with autistic children? Or could it possibility be his age? He will be 5 in two months.

When did your kids, neurotypical or autistic seem to get excited for holidays?

If your child is autistic, when did they get excited? Did they ask for certain things for Christmas? My son hasnt asked for anything ☹️

He is my only child right now so I have no idea what to really expect.

*edit to add, incase this is relevant- he is level 1, although I hate functioning levels, but maybe this is relevant- (although sometimes I think he really is level 2). He does have a language delay, although is fairly verbal, his expressive and receptive language is behind. He is verbal enough to tell me what he wants for Christmas, but I think the issue is he lacks the understanding that on Christmas, he will get gifts. He does have a very difficult time following directions.