Worried about possible autism signs

[danny43513451]

Ok, so this is probably another one of those paranoid parent posts, I apologize in advance if that turns out to be the case.
I'm worried about my 7.5 month old son (full term) not being very social. Here are some of the things that conern me:
He doesn't babble (does like to make a lot of noise, but no "da-da" etc just very long "aaaahhhh")
He doesn't respond to his name.
He rarely responds to our voice, especially when he's occuppied with some other toy. You have to work very hard to get his attention, and even then he'll do you us a favour and just glance at us for a quick second. Sometimes I feel he behaves as if we're not even there.
We can get him to laugh and smile, but usually have to work hard for it. It's easier for me than my husband though.
Doesn't really enjoy being held, he usually struggles to make us let go so he can go back to his other activities. He will tolerate being held on our shoulder though, provided that he gets enough stimulus from the surrounding enviornment (i.e. he wants us to move so he can look around).
Rarely seems to enjoy a game of peek-a-boo.
Makes no attempt to imitate.

Some of the more positive things...:
He started crawling at 6.5 months (like really crawling, on all 4s)
He is able to sit independently and is pretty stable.
He is extremely curious, always wants to move around and explore.
He is very adamant on progressing his motor skills - he's been constantly trying to stand up and pulling himself to a stand for the past few weeks.
He can reach for objects, pass them between hands, puts toys in his mouth.
Sleeps "ok", will usually only wake up once through a 10 hour night sleeping period. That being said his daytime naps are really short (30-40 minutes).
I think his hearing is OK because he will turn his head towards sounds that interest him (I guess our voices not being one of them).
Is able to focus on moving objects (again, if it interests him

That's pretty much it. Obviously in the internet era my main concern is autism. I know it's way too early to diagnose but I just hate the waiting game. We do not have any cases of it in the family, but my son did have a somewhat traumatic birth (21 hours in labor, vacuum assisted delivery).

Any input on this would be greatly appreciated! Anyone else have kids with similar symptoms? What was the outcome? Thanks a bunch.

[bettysviolin]

He's very young. Babies don't develop the whole red book skillset on the dot. they develop at different stages. he wa scrawling at four months? Then he's advanced in some things, so it's natural he'll be delaye din others. His neural wiring will be firing up to get moving round as much as he can, and other skills, like language, will wait.

DS2 (who btw is autistic) was very slow to move. Didn't crawl till 11/5months and then not on all fours. But his speech was massively advanced. Full sentences by one year. They are not machines. if his progress is very slow, then get concerned, but chances are that he's taking his time.

[Magicalmrmistofeles]

I have no idea about autism but a couple of things like not responding for ages and not babbling might suggest hearing?

[insanityscatching]

It's quite early for seeing signs although I knew dd had autism at her eight month check up. She has an older brother with autism though so made me acutely aware even if the two of them were like chalk and cheese.
So ds at eight months loved lights, things that spun, screamed pretty much constantly and self soothed by rocking and hated being picked up and didn't appear to recognise me or anyone else. Dd at eight months was silent, rarely smiled, didn't play with toys just sat and watched, never cried, never made any demands and again didn't recognise me but liked being carried around.
As Elizabeth said get his hearing checked and keep a record of your concerns dd was referred to a paediatrician at 13 months and got a diagnosis by two.

[Ineedacleaningfairy]

I had similar concerns about my ds, he sounds almost exactly like your baby. My ds is nearly 3 now and although he still has some things that worry me (his eye contact isn't fantastic-although he does have sight issues so it could be that and he is still slow to respond to his name especially if he's doing something fun-but then so is dp) he babbled "mamma" at around 8 months, but only when upset, he never had babble conversations, he started saying words at 12 months, and by 18 months he was saying little sentences. His speech is very good for his age now. He is extremely sociable, he loves chatting to both children and adults and he has some close friends, he's really confident and searches out interaction in all situations. His imaginary play is well developed, he plays complex make believe games. He has no sensory issues and he is very flexible, changes in routine or plans don't phase him, he sleeps and eats well. His imitation was/is great, he could do all the incy wincy spider actions at 13 months. I do still have the occasional niggling worry about his eye contact but at the moment he is a happy little boy who is developing well so I'm taking a wait and see approach.

I now have a second baby who is 7 months, how this baby is is the opposite of ds1, he just beams at anyone as soon as they look at him, he's been babbling for months and he reacts to his name even if we just say it in conversation. He's not crawling or even rolling much, just sitting smiling and "chatting" to everyone. When I think of how ds1 was I feel really concerned for ds1, but also worried about dc2 because he seems to unmotivated to move! There is always something to worry about!

I think that ds1 was just so focused on exploring and learning new physical things that the usual social baby things were a bit delayed.

[Hairylegs007]

Looking elsewhere and being interested in everything else but parents is normal

[danny43513451]

@Elizabeth22 - sounds like you are still waiting for dx, but your DS is doing fine? Are you still concerned he has ASD then?

[Getuhda348]

Hi so sorry to jump on your post just wondering the mums who have dc with autisum what are the signs to look out for? Have a 19 month ds who's had hearing checked and waiting for speech referal. Hv didn't mention autism but from the little I no about it I suspect he may be.

[Hairylegs007]

Struggling with changes to routine
Speech development slow
Sensory issues around food/clothes
Loops of repetitive behaviour - mine hit a specific child on head with a specific toy many times and struggled to move out of this
Less empathic

[fanjoforthemammaries7850]

Lack of joint attention is key here..if you point something out does he look? Does he point things out to you? (To Gehtudha not OP, whose child is too young to point)

[Mehitabel6]

I would raise your concerns, but all babies are different and on the face of it he sounds fine. There have been several threads lately about babies who don't like being held and cuddled. I think it comes from the idea that they should like it and it is good for all babies to practice attachment parenting whereas in reality some just don't like it. One of my sons was very like yours- early crawler etc and he just wanted to be put down.
Just keep monitoring it.

[saintlyjimjams]

He's very young & the reality is it's impossible to tell yet & you can drive yourself mad with the worrying. I began to worry about my eldest at 17 months (who DID play peekaboo, and was very affectionate, babbled, had long gazey stares - but was slow to crawl & roll etc & IS autistic - very severely so). I worried about my younger two who both did some odd things & had their brother but just couldn't tell until toddlerhood (they're fine).

Look for pointing at things of interest by 18 months. That's a good screen & in the end with the younger two I just decided to forget analysing everything else & watch whether pointing developed in a typical timeframe (ds1 was slow to follow a point as well).

Sally Ward's book Babytalk is a good one to follow as well, and tbh given the state of the service around here, probably more use than an NHS speech therapist in the early years.

[Getuhda348]

Thanks for replying. No he doesn't look when I point. He's very much in his own world. He did say a few words but has now stopped. He give me eye contact yesterday for the 1st time and I nearly cried with joy seems so small but was a massive thing for me

[insanityscatching]

Gethuda the loss of words previously used is a red flag so you must raise that with whoever you have been referred to. Dd's first words which she subsequently lost were square and hair so not typical first words either which is another red flag.It took her a long time to learn mummy,it came long after helicopter and crocodile anyway

[Getuhda348]

That's the reason the hv referred him to speech and language. Are they the ones able to look for autisum? tbh Ive known from a few months old he's different from others, he doesn't communicate at all. So understand this mums concerns totally.

[insanityscatching]

Autism is diagnosed by a team generally, led by a paediatrician. Dd was referred directly to ds's paediatrician who then made referrals to SALT (speech therapy) OT (occuational therapy) child psychologist and education. Quite often though a SALT will be the primary contact who will refer onto a paed with concerns outside of speech and language difficulties.

[fanjoforthemammaries7850]

Gehtuhda don't despair. .if he has ASD he will come on so so much from where he is now.

[fanjoforthemammaries7850]

My DD didnt acknowledge me at all when she was 2/3/4 and now hugs me lots,winds me up as all kids do, and is very communicative without words.

[Getuhda348]

Thank you! It's all new to me. It's a long waiting list just for speech specialist so just muddling through. Can't wait for the day I get to cuddle him and him not push me away

[insanityscatching]

Well ds is 20 now and I have never ever been able to have a hug he just can't tolerate it. I am though allowed to kiss the top of his head when he bows down for me to reach. I love him and he loves me, hugs would be great but the kisses mean the world to me.

[Getuhda348]

I will even settle for eye contact yeah he flaps his hands to and make a weird hissing noise he's first born so really had no clue about all these people it sounds like your dc are doing fab though so gives me hope just cannot wait until we finally get to see the speech specialist. Feel it's best to get things going now, then at least I can learn how to deal with things differently. He has full on melt downs at playgroups etc so can be quite isolating but luckily have met some 'mum friends' who understand and help. He only will play with cars or balls! But very advanced physically I. e walking at 9 months. Think I'm all prepared for it to be brought up now. Thank you everyone and sorry for jumping your post

[bettysviolin]

Getuhda, DS2 has it, though he is HFA, and it wasn't picked up for years. But lack of eye contact was a big indicator. I thought it was my fault as they are twins and I never knew who to look at first so my eyes slid away from theirs too soon and both were late to make eye contact. But he still finds it hard, in his teens. Also very delayed in motor skills - transferring objects from one hand to the other, rolling, never learned to crawl, walked in a stiff doll like way.

FTR he's the cuddliest, snuggliest person on the planet (wasn't as a baby. Used to stiffen when I touched him, which was distressing.) He has become one of those autistic people who likes rather than hates sensory stimulation so is usually found snuggled up under soft blankets with the cat, or hugging the life out of me, which I love!