Abstract: 　Objective　To explore the developmental characteristics of different functional levels of autism and the diffe-rence in children. Methods A total of 159 autistic children aged 13-71 months including 85 high-functioning autistic (HFA) children and 74 low-functioning autistic (LFA) children were evaluated for their developmental characteristics by the development scales from the psycho-educational profile-revised (PEP-R). Results Within the same age group, both HFA and LFA children had obvious unbalance in individual ability development (H=41.68~113.51, P<0.01). Impaired cognitive performance is most common in HFA children. The development of cognitive performance was inconsistent with cognitive expression while the gross motor development was normal. The ability development in LFA children were all impaired, especially in imitation, cognitive performance and cognitive expression. With increasing age, the scores of imitation, perception, cognitive performance, cognitive expression and overall development quotient were increased gradually in HFA children (P<0.05) while the scores of cognitive performance and overall development quotient were decreased in LFA children. Conclusions Autistic children tend to have abnormal developmental progress and order, and individual ability development varies by functional level in autistic children with increasing age.