squirrel.
Happy mummy of three
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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
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
and I hope the professionals can tell you what you need to know xxxx
x
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. 
