Autism concerns

[Stephytiggs]

Hi all,

I was wondering if anyone could advise.

My 11 month old was IUGR and born with her twin sister at 34 weeks. She has additional fluid on her brain which she has check ups for but no intervention is required at this stage. We've been advised by the neurologist that she may have educational and learning support needs.

There are a few things that worry me with her. She likes to hold a block in each hand and bang tjrm together, if she wants to crawl somewhere she won't let the blocks go but still crawl while holding them.

She also makes quite a strange noise and bangs her hands together, I can only describe it as the noise a pigeon makes? It's not really a noise with her mouth, it's like she uses her nose and throat to make the noise. There's a few things she is behind on compared to her sister, she doesn't show interest in the room around her, where as her sister points at everything wanting to know what it is etc. Physically she is developing fine, stands up on her own etc, does clap hands when I say well done, smiles and laughs etc.

Am I being paranoid? I thought with her reaching her other milestones that she was fine, but little things are starting to show up.

Can anyone guide me to the best place for help with this? I'd like to talk to other parents who are going through the same.

Thank you x

 

[lau86]

All sounds quite normal to me. Presumably she will have regular check ups with a doctor? I would just mention at the next check. I think 11 months is extremely early to be thinking about autism. My dd is the same age and has a few funny behaviours, she likes to pull washing off the airer and crawl round with it on her head.

 

[TTC First]

I have a foster child that I am starting to have the same concerns about. When she was younger the delays were less obvious. Now that she is almost 2, I am starting to see more and more delays. She is seen by someone for her delays so I mentioned this to her and she is going to refer her to a developmental paediatrician.

Keep in mind that this child has not been diagnosed so the things that I am seeing may not be signs of Autism. I also see that she is not really interested in what is around her. She was doing a lot of independent play. You try to engage her in play and she was totally focused on what she was doing and there is no stopping her. Even when you do something like dress her, she often will sit there and expect you to do everything. Before she was able to get around if you put her on the floor she would lay there and not attempt to reach for toys.

 

[Septie]

Hmm, those behaviors sound quite normal to me (I've had three - and they've all developed differently). And if she is 11 months, wouldn't she be less than 10 months corrected? That would be quite early for pointing at things I believe. Perhaps her twin is just advanced...

 

[jessmke]

Hmm, those behaviors sound quite normal to me (I've had three - and they've all developed differently). And if she is 11 months, wouldn't she be less than 10 months corrected? That would be quite early for pointing at things I believe. Perhaps her twin is just advanced...

I was thinking the same thing. My 11 month old doesn't point at things or clap and there are no concerns about her development. She also used to try to crawl while still holding her toys in her hands until she discovered she can crawl while carrying them in her mouth.

Do you think you would be concerned about her development if she was a singleton and you didn't have her twin to compare her to?

 

[OnErth&InHvn]

talk to your dr or a developmental specialist.

 

[staralfur]

Nothing really sounds out of the ordinary.

Pointing usually starts between 9-13 months. It's a wide margin and plenty of babies who start pointing later than the norm still don't have autism. If she's a little bit behind her sister in some other areas it would make sense that she might not point until a bit later as well.

The noises and smashing blocks together sound like normal baby stuff to me.

 

[minties]

She sounds fine to me. My son has mild autism and never displayed a single sign till he was about 4.5 when it became apparent that he had a lack of empathy and trouble relating to others. The ONLY thing we see in retrospect is that his first word was late at 23 months but even then his language took off like a rocket ship.

Your LO sounds perfectly normal.

 

[LoveCakes]

Sounds normal to me but I'm no expert. Child can be very different and I'm sure it's hard not to compare when you have 2 the same age. Could you give your health visitor a call to clarify?

 

[Jessicahide]

Nothing about her behaviour sounds like a flag to me, the only flag is that you are concerned. My ds2 has autism, i always just knew there was something but didn't want to admit to myself that something was "wrong", He was a very sick baby, wouldn't take a warm bottle, wouldn't look me in the eye until he was over 4 months, he was tongue tied and he would freak if a stranger touched him at all or spoke to him... But it was something i just always KNEW! If you have concerns follow them but just know its not the end of the world! xxx