# 23 month old with suspected autism - Intro



## KandyKinz

Thought I'd drop by and say hi. 'Hi!'

I have a 23 month old son (Peanut). We (as in I) have been concerned about autism since he was a young baby. He reminded me very much of my younger brother (who also has autism) and I was continuously seeing 'things' that had me thinking early on. It was mostly little things that wouldn't mean much if were isolated, but the whole picture concerned me. He never slept for more than 40 minutes at a time until he was 18 months. He would frequently forget how to latch on correctly when breastfeeding even as an older baby. Whenever he would get excited he would open and close his hands repeated and would often flap his arms. 

Fast forward to his first birthday - Peanut only had one word 'uh oh'. He was reluctant to make eye contact and he NEVER pointed. 

At around 15 months he developed a twitch/tic where he would bring his shoulder up to his ear and lift his arm up in the air. This occurred primarily when he was watching tv. He still only had the one word, still wasn't pointing and still refused to make eye contact. It was also seldom that he would look at you when you called his name.

We were referred on for hearing testing (which was normal), a neurological pediatrician assessment (who has referred us on to another pediatrician who specializes in ASD assessments - unfortunately, we likely won't be seen until this fall), speech therapy (which we're currently participating in) and infant developmental services (whom we are on a waiting list for).

He's near two and has a very limited working vocabulary. Isolated, he has said upwards to a dozen words but there are only a handful in which he uses regularly. There are somedays where he says nothing at all. He babbles all day long, but somedays no real words come out. We've been doing baby sign language since he was young. We gave it up for awhile because it just wasn't working (a very bad position), but we took it back up. He doesn't use many gestures aside from waving goodbye and shrugging with his hands up (for "I don't know"). He points all the time now, and with a lot of effort he's finally making some eye contact. The tics/twitches have resolved, but he continues to make unusual movements and consistently flaps his hands when excited.

I've noticed that his ASD symptoms do intensify whenever he eats dairy products so we've just recently started a CF(almost)GF autism diet. I just feel like I have to do something and waiting another 10 months or so for a real diagnosis just seems like too far away especially since it's these early years/months that are said to influence outcome the most.


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## RachA

Just wanted to say hi :)

I don't have a child with any ASD, as far as i know, so i really can't comment on what you've said.
I notice that you have two other children so i'm guessing that you've been through all the talking etc with them so you have something to compare your lo with. The talking thing is really hard - it seems that everyone else's children are talking and yours isn't. I would however say that pre 2 is fairly early to be talking. The fact that your lo is talking at all is good and the fact that he babbles etc is good too.


The waiting is so hard isn't it. We seem to of been waiting so long for various appointments etc and it's really not easy.


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## Mellofishy

As a mom of a child with autism, trust your gut. If you feel there's any type of delay in your son, get him evaluated. Early intervention is VITAL! I'm in the U.S. so I do not know what Canada has to offer as of the public school systems. But do reach out for help, resources, support. My son is making remarkable progress! :)


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