# joint attention- worried about delay/autism etc



## StranjeGirl

Hi Everyone-
I was wondering if anyone has any insight. I have been a bit worried about dd as she just turned 11 months yesterday and I completed a checklist that I found online called the "csbs dp it" Most articles say that it is an early predictor for autism, but when I looked into the study, the kids who failed the test AND who got intervention were mostly diagnosed with other types of delays. Most of the kids who failed didn't have an assessment. Anyway I am noticing my 11 month old is lacking in the the joint attention area, which I have read is a big sign of autism. She does not follow my point, and worse she doesn't even follow my gaze. She does not show me her toys or hand me toys, even if I ask. She also doesn't clap or wave. She has waved a few times, and now she is putting her hand up when someone comes in and sometimes when we wave she will do that. I don't know if this is her form of waving or just wanting to reach out to us. She also doesn't point herself or ask for much help unless it is food related- then she grunts and starts banging her hand on her high chair. These are all the things I feel she should be doing by this point but she doesn't. 
The things she does do are look at us when playing with her toys. She does this often and often smiles while doing it. She likes to do "horsey" where if we say "horsey" she starts moving up and down (usually on our lap) My mom started this with her and now many times when my mom comes over she crawls over to her and gets on her lap and starts jumping up and down. I read that this is actually a gesture like waving is. She loves participating in games like peekaboo and patty cake. She will play independently with her toys for a while, but many times she will just follow me around the house. I guess it depends on her mood. When we are on the floor with her she likes to come over to us often and climb on top of us or over us. 
There are 3 categories to the test and she passed the other two, but it wasn't like she was super advanced in those areas. She was a late babbler, which initially worried me, but she started at 6.5 months and babbles all the time now. No meaningful words yet, but she does understand some words. She is VERY vocal and always has been. Even before babbling she oohhed and ahhhed all day long. No sensory issues that I can think of other than she gets weirded out by new textures of food. She makes a face, but she still eats it. She is not a picky eater at all, especially if she sees us eating something. She has always been a good sleeper. Not a super cuddly baby as she would rather be exploring, but always had great eye contact and gives lots of smiles and giggles. She is very very serious around strangers and usually will not smile at then at all, and is not happy if someone she doesn't know tries to pick her up. She loves books and always has. It's the only think that will keep her occupied for a while if she is cranky or tired. I started reading to her at around 10 weeks and was very surprised at how focused she was on books. SHe does know and respond to her name, but at times she ignores me when she is busy with something else, but I have read that other people have the same problem with their babies and toddlers..selective hearing I guess! Other than being a good sleeper, she has never been an "easy" baby. She is quite demanding and she is a bit better now that she is crawling around and able to explore. Maybe she was bored before. She started crawling at 8.5 months and not motor issues that I have noticed, except she rolled from front to back at 4 months and then couldn't do it again for months. She was rolling back to front at 6 months but had a hard time going front to back again. However, she is an unusually large baby and grew very quickly. She was already 22 pounds at 4 months and the dr told us she may be delayed in motor skills due to her mass and rapid growth. Other than rolling she is within normal range for motor skills. Cruising the furniture now and stand for a couple seconds on her own. 
Sorry for the novel, just wanted to put as much info as I could think of. I will be talking to my pediatrician at her 12 month appt but just wanted to see what others thought. I know they say to trust your gut, and I don't know what my gut is telling me. If it wasn't for the internet I would think she is acting like a typical 11 month old, but then I start reading all this stuff and realize that she is not doing some very important things and I start to worry. My MIL told me that dh was VERY delayed in everything and she was very worried about him. He didn't want to interact much and was not social at all. He would fixate on things (dd doesn't really do this) Even in kindergarten he was walking into walls etc. He completely grew out of it and is extremely bright and super social. He was diagnosed with adhd when young, but I believe it was more behavioral issues due to his parents going through a divorce. ALthough he tries to use it as an excuse when he forgets to do something! He no longer has adhd, and as a therapist qualified to diagnose, I told him it means he never really had it, otherwise he would have had to learn to manage it in some way. Again, sorry for the novel but if anyone has input on if a baby that has issues in only joint attention can possibly be without issues in the future. Thanks!


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## sun

Wow based on what you've written I would say she seems like she is developing normally? :shrug: My daughter is 13mo and was very similar to yours at 11mo. My son was delayed and at 11mo couldn't yet roll, crawl or get into sitting (was 13mo when he started that) - however he is now 3 and doing well in preschool. 

I don't know if I would keep googling though - it is a nightmare out there for autism fear-mongering checklists and websites. I find there is too much information and at the same time not enough. Like a checklist will say "red flag if they aren't pointing by 1yr!" but don't emphasize enough that children do develop differently, and that autism is a multi-faceted diagnosis and can't usually be done without lots of assessments. I went through this with my son and decided to quit with the google already at it was just causing so much stress. 

However, obviously I'm just a person online who hasn't met your son! I would say that if you really feel that there is a problem, then you should see get a ped to check him out. Even though my son was obviously delayed, I knew there was a problem much earlier than the docs did - maybe 6-8months. Whereas they referred him at 14mo. There was just a connection that was missing socially with him that I have never felt with my daughter. It has gotten better with him, but he still lives in between two universes a bit :haha: For me the social aspect is the biggest, not the date that they point (which my son does), or what month they said their first word. There was something inexplicable that I couldn't express.


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## StranjeGirl

Gosh thank you so much Sun. I know like you said it is just one person's opinion, but to hear someone with children say that things seem normal makes me feel really good! I think I will take your advice and try to stay off of google! All it does is tell me that I have cancer and LO has autism lol.
So glad to hear your son is doing well in preschool! As I said before, my husband was super delayed and would not interact socially with his parents or peers and as he got older he got very bright and very social and totally adores his mother! It just all came a bit later. I guess some babies are just really focused on other things. Thank you so much for your thoughts!


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## AimeeM

She sounds totally fine for 11 months in my opinion x


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## Peanut78

Sounds like perfectly normal age appropriate development to me! :thumbup:


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## anita665

I don't think it sounds like you've got much to worry about. It's really hard to tell at such a young age anyway but kids all develop at their own pace.

The 'horsey' game you describe sounds like it is just that - a game and not the kind of repetative behaviour you see with autism. Autistic kids do that as a kind of stress relief or a way to cope but your LO sounds like she just sees it as fun.


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## Xanamcx

Hello! I hope you can help me. How is your baby now? My 9 month old son sounds just like yours and i am so worried. 

Thank you so much. 



StranjeGirl said:


> Gosh thank you so much Sun. I know like you said it is just one person's opinion, but to hear someone with children say that things seem normal makes me feel really good! I think I will take your advice and try to stay off of google! All it does is tell me that I have cancer and LO has autism lol.
> So glad to hear your son is doing well in preschool! As I said before, my husband was super delayed and would not interact socially with his parents or peers and as he got older he got very bright and very social and totally adores his mother! It just all came a bit later. I guess some babies are just really focused on other things. Thank you so much for your thoughts!


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