Worried sick about autism

[Anna.Femm]

I'm beginning to worry a lot seeing that my son, who turned a year old 3 weeks ago, doesn't yet wave or point at all and he claps very little and it feels just random. He also doesn't say any words and doesn't immitate any sounds although he does babble a lot. He responds to his name but not consistently. All these things I thought were ok up to now and that he would eventually start doing them, but today I read some stuff and I nearly had a breakdown.

Apparently it's a sign of autism to play all the time in the same way, and my boy does that, not all the time but a good deal. He likes throwing things on the floor and picking them up again. If I show him another way to play, however, he does repeat it for a while. He plays alone a lot, but he does look at me from time to time to see if I'm watching. And then sensitivity to sounds: the hoover, the hair dryer and the food chopper make him go crazy, he looks really scared and starts screaming every time.

But then he smiles and reacts with strangers, he is really happy to see me when I pick him up from the nursery, and the personel there have never complained about his behaviour. He really responds to them too, it's just that he gets extremely preoccupied with playing and touching new things all the time.

I'm calling the HV tomorrow to talk about this, but in the meantime I feel like I'm going crazy.

I just really hope it's all in my head.

 

[Les1504]

Hi, I'm have no experience atall but what your little boy is doing sounds completely normal for his age. At just turned one, my LO played repetitively and was always last to meet milestones. He's now 3 and is exactly where he's expected to be in terms of development. Hope you're hv can offer some advice and put your mind at ease xx

 

[Anna.Femm]

Thanks for your reply! I don't know if I'm just focusing on the negatives or just comparing with other children too much. I just can't stand not knowing if something is going on with my baby.

 

[tinselcat]

There's nothing in your description of his behaviour that screams autism to me, he sounds fairly normal and on the speech front babies all do develop at different rates, at 13 months he's still pretty young.

The fact he can independent play for long times is actually a really positive thing And babies learn to do things with repetitive behaviour.

Hopefully your HV will be able to re-assure you.

xx

 

[babyscotcher]

I have quite a bit of experience with those on the milder end of the spectrum and the things you have described although doesn't rule out autism doesn't make it seem likely either.

Does he make eye contact? Does he like physical contact? Does he get very anxious and agitated when his routine is at all different?

Although every autistic child is different that is 3 key things that are there for most. They dislike or don't make eye contact, don't like physical contact and find things out of routine very difficult as they struggle to process change. X

 

[russellmuscle]

I have had your worries. Jackson was always very smart, still is but he is obsessed with shapes to the point he knows the workd as we see it in shapes, he will identify ech object in a shape before the actual name. He takes very rare intrest in other toys and when quiet hes singing the shape song over. Hes the same in nursery although does interact with encourhement he would rather sit with his shapes. I thought the obsessiveness was a sign and the fact he alwaus plays alone. He likes me to play now that hes in the imaginary stage so I go Mr Square, he goes Mr circle lol.

Your wee one sounds to be developing fine. Jackson didnt say any words until after he was one. Now he just has such a big vocab I dunno where he picks it up.

Problem is now days we are so aware of labels we are quick to put them and associate them with normal behaviour. Speak to your HV and the nursery, I raised my concerns with both and they both said it was quite normal to enjoy his own company amd have a fave subject.

xxxxx

 

[Anna.Femm]

Thank you for the thoughtful and reassuring replies, they really did help.

Not only is this my first baby but I also have almost no frame of reference for these things as he is one of the youngest at nursery (except for another boy, next in age is 4 months older) and I have no friends with babies his age here.

Babyscotcher, none of the three criteria you mentioned applies so my son. He makes and has always made good eye contact coupled with smiles and other positive reactions, he reacts well to physical contact (we play a lot with touching each other's hands and face) and I think he just enjoys it when he does things outside of his routine.

 

[Anna.Femm]

Now I have talked both to the HV and the nursery about this and both said that 1. it's too early and 2. they haven't seen anything that could point to autism and everything I mentioned is part of a normal development.

Russelmuscle, I really agree with what you said in the end. I have to stop trying to find if anything is wrong with my little one, it only ends in worrying!