Lena Zettler, MA, LPA, director of Psychology at Cook Children’s Medical Center, said that belief requires “magical thinking,” which is a normal process and coping skill that kids possess.

“It is generally a useful coping mechanism for children,” Zettler said. “However, there is a wide variation as to when kids use less and less magical thinking to cope or understand the world.”

Kids have a lot of magical thinking at the age of 3 and much less of it by age 12. Magical thinking is what allows kids to believe. But, there are many other factors that also play into this belief: cultural reinforcement, religious beliefs, emotional situations, family stress, family beliefs/customs, peer and sibling beliefs, etc.

Speaking more as a parent than a professional, Zettler said parents should let their kids guide them on this issue. “If a 9 year old wants to stand in line to sit on Santa’s lap at the mall, is that a bad thing? Parents could find the joy in that desire and embrace it too,” she said.

But back to her professional opinion, Zettler said she believes parents worry WAY too much and this is a good example of one thing they shouldn’t get too worried about. She said the magical issue we are addressing is not a developmental task that has to be accomplished by a certain age.

“Let things unfold, I say,” Zettler said. “Let them believe if they want…what does it really hurt? On a lighter note, parents can rest assured, that it is generally an older sibling or cousin that may try to break the big news to their kids anyway.”

Besides, regardless of how old we are, we all want to believe a little bit. Don’t we?

But the research may simply be a matter of parents being more mindful of autism than they were previously.

“What is telling is that the overall prevalence of developmental disabilities hasn’t increased,” said Joyce Mauk, M.D., CEO and medical director of the Child Study Center. “Some of this is diagnostic substitution. Many more children with language disorders and some unusual features of behavior are now being diagnosed with autism.”

Dr. Mauk, who is board certified in pediatrics and neurodevelopmental pediatrics, said examiners are more likely to diagnose children with more subtle or mild symptoms of the autism spectrum than ever before because of the attention autism has gotten in recent years.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and National Center for Health Statistics stated reported that 1 in 45 children were diagnosed with autism in 2014, a leap of nearly 80 percent from 2011 to 2013 (1 in 68 children were diagnosed during that time period).

“The survey changed from 2013 to 2014 and the categories for autism were more inclusive in the most recent study,” said Lena Zettler, director of Psychology at Cook Children’s. “They included other developmental delays. The incidence isn’t necessarily changing, but awareness is.”

Both Dr. Mauk and Zettler agree that the focus should remain on the science we know.

Autism is more common if there other family members who are on the spectrum. Higher incidence in autism can occur if:

• The father is older
• Pregnancies are less than two years apart
• Preemies are at a higher risk for developmental delays (including, but not limited to the autism spectrum)

The survey found that the majority of children diagnosed were boys than girls, with a 75 to 25 ratio. Fifty-nine percent were identified as non-Hispanic White.

Another key factor that some point to is the fact that more than 67 percent of the children who were diagnosed had at least one parent with more than a high school education, which could mean they are more likely to be aware and educated of the symptoms of autism, making for quicker identification.

“There is of course a lot we still don’t know about the underlying factors that cause autism, but I think the fact that people are becoming more aware is a great start,” Zettler said. “It makes for quicker diagnosis and care for the child.”

"Pressure's what you make out of it, all right? It's kind of like - pressure's kind of like your friend you had, your imaginary friend you had when you were 4 years old, right? If you think it's there, it's there. If you don't, you don't. That kind of the way we go about it."

Then he was asked if he had an imaginary friend. "I don't," he answered.

It's not surprising that a 61-year-old man doesn't have an imaginary friend, but it shouldn't be a concern if your child has a friend you can't see. 

Having a child with an imaginary friend can be worrisome, especially for new parents. "Is my child hallucinating?" "Is this an early sign of a social disorder?"

Despite how it looks, having an imaginary friend is normal for children. As many as 65 percent of children develop an imaginary friend, often while they are between the ages 2 and 6. Here are a few things you may not know about imaginary friends:

1. Imaginary friends are more common among first-born and only children.
2. Imaginary friends typically last less than 6 months.
3. Kids may use objects, such as blankets or stuff animals, to represent imaginary friends.
4. Exceptionally bright children often have imaginary friends.
5. There is no correlation between imaginary friends and psychological problems.

"Imaginary friends usually surface during transitional periods or times of emotional stress, such as a family illness," said Lena Zettler, MA, LPA, director of Psychology at Cook Children's. "An invisible friend can be a healthy outlet for kids to play out their emotions and cope with bad feelings.