# Signs of autism in 1.5 year-old?



## squirrel.

Hi ladies,

I'm sorry if this is the thousands post like this, but I am asking for some advice from parents who have children with autism. We have been observing some atypical behaviour in our little boy who is 18 months and I was wondering whether I ought to take him to a specialist to see if he may be on the autustic spectrum. As I'm sure many parents do, I have read up a lot of information online, but not much of it seems relevant to an 18-month-old. I also have no experience with young children. I'm a primary school teacher, so feel much more comfortable identifying unusual behaviour in 5+ children, not little ones. 


Things we have noticed:

- Irregular eye contact. When he was born I was expecting my baby to gaze into my eyes all the time, but he didn't even look at me for a few months. Now he looks at you when he wants something (although he also looks at the thing he wants and groans). He'll look at you when you play tickle games, or peepo, or 'where's mummy?' games. So he does make eye-contact, but it's irregular. People can walk into the room and he doesn't look at them once. He also makes far less eye contact than I've noticed others doing. He never makes eye contact at meal times, just watches his food.

- No communication. He doesn't have any words yet. He doens't point, doesn't gesture, doesn't wave. If he wants something he groans and looks at it (very occasionally he will then look at you). He sometimes says the word 'more' in the right context when he wants more food at dinner time. He babbles mama and dada and other sounds, but doesn't call us mama and dada.

- He flaps his hands more than other babies. He clutches his thumb to his middle finger and flaps it in front of his face, sometimes looking at it, sometimes not. He often uses this to self soothe when he's upset.


Those are my big concerns. These are the things he does do that I have read can red flags if the baby isn't doing them.
- He does initiate hugs and cuddles.
- He lifts his arms to be picked up.
- He smiles when smiled at (with eye contact)
- He imitates some actions and sounds
- He walked on time at 15 months and doesn't toe-walk
- He plays with toys as they're meant to be played with, though does have an unnatural obsession with cylindrical shaped objects (crayons, baby drum sticks etc.), which he carries around with him all day.
- He plays interactive games like peepo where he hides his face under blankets and then pulls out laughing at you.
- He watches other children (not all the time though) and tries to copy them or chase after them.
- He follows objects paths when they're moved
- He can follow where you point to see what you're looking at
- He does know his name, but only rarely responds to it. I know he knows it, but is quite often so wrapped up in what he's doing that he won't look up when you say his name.
- He copies songs. So if you sing a tune to him he will copy it by humming. His father is a musician and he has been exposed to music every hour of his life I'm sure. He hums nursery rhymes on his own, but if you sing one line to him, he will hum the next line.
- He understands more than he lets on. He surprised me the other day when I said 'Mummy's going to work' he started crying and clinging to me because he understood what I said. He understands no, where's your milk, don't go outside, where's the ball etc.

Sorry if that is an information overload. I don't know if I'm just being overly paranoid or whether this is something to get checked out.

Thanks in advance for your advice!!

x


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## squirrel.

Bump.

Does anyone have any insight? I feel like I'm quietly panicking; we're taking him to two specialists, but they both have a 3-4 month waiting list. I feel extremely preoccupied by all this and I'm sure that's not good!

Thank you so much in advance!

x


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## davidjoemum

Hi there!
I know how you feel and I have to say that your lo seems so much like mine!
My son is 2.5 and what you wrote sounds like you been writing about my son!but my son talk some words and counts numbers.

I have taken my son to see GP and got referral to see consultant and after one visit my worries was confirmed! She said that he shows signs od ASD and we got refered everywhere she could think of to get help.i have sent him to the nursery hoping that he will catch up and learn things from other kids there!
Read my others posts on this section it might give you some clues or pm me if you like.

I know that you might dont want to have first answer like that on your question and I'm sorry if I upset you but I'm just telling you my story and out children behavior sounds so similar.get him to be seen and regardless what answer you hear you will know how to help him.
I was devastated ( i still am and no singke day went by without me crying)when she said to me "he's more likely to have autism" and its only been 3 weeks from that appointment but I realised that it makes my son who he is and is not end of the world but the word"autism"sounds so scary.


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## AP

Sorry you haven't had a lot of replies Hun. It's a difficult question, I used to see posts the same and posts of my own would go unanswered. I only understand why now.

These lists you find on the internet are very basic and general, Autism can be more complex and deeper than that so it's hard to advise anyone because each child with ASD is very individual in their make up- they may share traits but that's about it.

Your waiting time is actually a lot less than most, some people wait 6month - 1 year on a waiting list to be assessed. So it's good you are getting closer to having some answers on your own child. 

My two year old does not have autism(unlike her older sister) yet she sure as heck can tick a lot of boxes on the lists, so don't despair just yet!

And if it does come to it, and your child does indeed have autism, don't panic, it's just a explanation. The good thing is it will open doors to you to help your child reach their potential. 

Sending you huge hugs :hugs: and I hope the professionals can tell you what you need to know xxxx


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## princessttc

It's hard! I'm going through the same thing with my daughter! I see many red flags in what you say and would definitely pursue an assessment! Especially lack of speech and not consistently responding to name (have I got this right?)!!! Hang in their and feel free to pm me as I have been where you are now with my son and feel I'm going through it again with my daughter!
The not pointing was a major thing in my sons diagnostic process


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## Evies_mummy

hi, my daughter is autistic and was diagnosed in jan 2011, she is now 6 and in mainstream school. 
First of all, make an appointment with your health visitor to come in and observe your son at home. That's what started the ball rolling with my daughters diagnosis. I had lots of concerns cos she seemed to be developing speech well, until at about 15 months old, she just stopped and seemed to forget some of the words she used to say. She wouldn't ever make eye contact and she would spend hours looking at word and writing in books and be in her own little bubble. 
When the health visitor came to check her, she kind of said it was fine, she would catch up, but i still had doubts. I waited until her 2 year check up and by then i knew for sure there was a problem as she had a vocabulary of about 12 words and would not make eye contact with anyone.
Luckily, there was a new health visitor who came to do her check up and she agreed to refer her to a speech therapist and a paediatrician and she also mentioned autism. One of the biggest things i remember from that assessment was that when she was handed a pencil and asked to draw a circle, not only did she draw a circle, but she started to write 'circle' under her drawing!! at 2 years old!!

She was diagnosed as having autism about 8 moths later. She still has to see a speech therapist as her speech is still not as it should be. She doesn't like children her own age, she will find younger or older ones to play with if there is no adults for her to talk to. She becomes obsessed with things very easily, for a long time it was the words 'made in China'. If it was printed on something she would put a pen in my hand and try to make me write it over and over until she was happy with the way it looked. Then, when she moved on from that obsession, it was the moon. If she saw the moon through the window or on tv or in a book, she would need to draw it before she could move on and finish whatever she was doing. The most recent one was ties! 

ok, so i have just seen how much i have written! Sorry for the essay! 

Hope you manage to get some answers. Please feel free to message me at any time, if I can pass any of the stuff i have learned on to anyone i will be happy :) x


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## Eternal

AtomicPink said:


> Sorry you haven't had a lot of replies Hun. It's a difficult question, I used to see posts the same and posts of my own would go unanswered. I only understand why now.
> 
> These lists you find on the internet are very basic and general, Autism can be more complex and deeper than that so it's hard to advise anyone because each child with ASD is very individual in their make up- they may share traits but that's about it.
> 
> Your waiting time is actually a lot less than most, some people wait 6month - 1 year on a waiting list to be assessed. So it's good you are getting closer to having some answers on your own child.
> 
> My two year old does not have autism(unlike her older sister) yet she sure as heck can tick a lot of boxes on the lists, so don't despair just yet!
> 
> And if it does come to it, and your child does indeed have autism, don't panic, it's just a explanation. The good thing is it will open doors to you to help your child reach their potential.
> 
> Sending you huge hugs :hugs: and I hope the professionals can tell you what you need to know xxxx

I agree with this. :thumbup: your waiting lists are much shorter than mine too, we have been going through the process for over a year before he got accepted onto the pathway and still waiting more in depth assessments. 

So my 4 year old is autistic with a bunch of other stuff too, like SPD and ADHD, but one of my twins could tick a lot of the boxes and he isn't ASD, so don't panic. 

Good luck x


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## squirrel.

Hi ladies,

Thanks for the responses.

It's been a while and a lot has happened! He received lots of referrals in the end and is on the waiting list to see an ASD specialist in the spring. Everyone agreed that he was showing signs of autsism in October/November.

The thing is, he went through a huge developmental leap over Christmas and is no longer showing as many signs. He makes a lots more eye contact, engages in imaginative play, responds to his name nearly all the time (was only very rarely before), brings you things to look at with him, is trying to communicate and he stopped flapping his hand. He's a lot more interested in people and other children now. He seems really different. Another new thing, that I think still is a sign of autism, is that he will take you by the hand to what he wants. He doesn't point yet, but he will grab you and take you to what he wants. He does follow a pointed finger though to the object you're pointing at and knows what you mean.

I'm interested to see what they say at his specialist appointment, because even though he hasn't 'caught up' with other kids his age, he's not showing as many red flags any more.

x


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## Eternal

I think that's the main reason they hate diagnosing ASD this early, because all children develop differently and many of the symptoms are normal for that age. Keep the appointment whatever happens but hopefully he will continue to develop and not have any issues. My sons symptoms change to an extend, right now we is really struggle with sensory issues, he wears his ear defenders most of the time at a home and even to bed of there is any noise, he cannot be in the same room as his brothers, at Christmas his speech regressed and even now his preouncation is much poorer than before, but in some areas, despite this he can now at times tell you what's wrong, so he says that it's too noisy rather than just have a meltdown, so he has had changes. But you son sounds like she is doing fine x


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## Tranmummy

HI there I was hoping to see how your little one is developing as I am also concerned about my 1.5 year old son. He has said a few words but does not say them anymore. He might make sounds similar to the words but that is about all. He does not make eye contact with us at all and I am so stressed. He does understand some things like when we ask if he would like his milk or to carry him he will lift his arms up. He has never pointed but can sometimes look in the direction of what we are pointing at.

How is your little one coping? Any advice would be most appreciated.


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## lusterleaf

Hi, sorry just saw this now. When my son was 18 months I called our state's early intervention line to get him evaluated. My primary concern was speech since he had no words nor did he seem to follow directions/understand what I was saying to him. So he qualified for speech therapy 2x a week, But a month later I asked to get a psych eval done because I noticed that he didn't point, he didn't answer when I called his name, had a fascination with opening/closing doors and cabinets, sometimes he would spin while looking out the corners of his eyes. After the psych eval we officially got the diagnosis for him, so this was at 19 months. With this diagnosis they added on ABA therapy but due to our schedules we couldn't fit all of the sessions at our home, so when DS turned 2 I asked to place him in a special needs pre-k where he would get all of his therapy done there. He is almost 2.5 now and he is still non-verbal but I am hoping to see some progress eventually.


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## worriedmomNY

@squirrel Please can you tell me what happened to your child. My child is showing same symptoms. He is 15 months old.


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