Crystal children are children who have a crystal-colored aura, a theoretical field of radiation around the body that some claim to be able to see. Along with indigo children — those with indigo auras — they are claimed to be more spiritually evolved at birth than others. Some people believe that they are being born in greater and greater numbers in recent years. It is often said that these children have an opalescent aura, and they are sometimes referred to as rainbow children. They are also said to be fascinated by rocks and crystals.
While indigo children have purportedly been around for about 100 years, with a large increase in indigo births beginning in the 1970s, the first crystal children were born around the year 2000. Indigo children and adults may become crystal through developing their spirituality; it is believed that everyone has the potential to develop a crystal aura, but those born with an indigo aura have a shorter path to follow to achieve it. Crystal children are said to be peaceful, forgiving, and even-tempered, while indigo children have more of a warrior spirit, though psychic abilities, heightened spirituality, and sensitivity are said to be common to both.
Crystal children are said to have a universal consciousness rather than an individual sense of self. Because of this, they are said to communicate telepathically or non-verbally and may begin to speak at a later stage than other children. Some parents claim that their tendency to talk later in life does not create a barrier to communication, however, as the children can easily communicate in other ways, such as through gestures and non-verbal sounds.
It has also been hypothesized that the recent increase in diagnoses of autism is due to the prevalence of crystal children, since both crystal and autistic children are very sensitive and have problems communicating verbally. It should be noted that the two terms are not simply different names for the same phenomenon, however. Many supposed crystal children are not diagnosed as autistic, and while such children are said to be peaceful in nature, autism is sometimes linked with aggression.