Does my son have autism?

[honey1361]

I have been worrying a lot about my 15 month old son. He is my second, my daughter is six now and is extremely smart and gifted. My son, however, is either a weird baby or something is wrong and I am concerned he might be autistic.

First I should mention I have an autistic brother, so it might be in the genes. My son does make eye contact, he plays with family members and people he knows ( aunts, uncles,...) and does not like strangers. Now all these seem normal, but then it comes the head banging. He bangs his head all the time ( not only when he is frustrated, in pain, or sleepy, but also for the fun of it), he does that hard on the floor until it is very painful and he cries. The doctor says head banging is also normal for babies, that a lot of them do it and then after some time they get over it. Then here comes the way he plays.

He does not like soft toys and teddies, he likes balls and he has 5 of them, different size and colours, and he likes legos. I show him how to play with the and he does a bit, but mostly he is interested in his own game, which is spreading all his legos and then gathering and putting them to one side, he does the same with his balls, just taking them and putting them all in one corner and then moving them somewhere else. He also sits on the floor and starts circling around himself for minutes until he feels dizzy then he stops and enjoys the feeling and starts again.

His speech is also concerning, he used to say mum when he was 11 month old, but he has not said it for two month now. He says other words (daddy, doggie, roll,...) but he does not learn body parts which other babies his age know and can show.

He also has his own routin, every morning he has to open his lego bag, then goes to a sofa, puts his face on it for a minute, then goes back to the bag and starts playing. Is not it too early for him to develop routins like this? Are these signs of autism?

[user1491572121]

I really feel for you because it's so worrying when our children show signs of something not being quite right. Nobody here can tell you if he is Autistic but it does seem as though there are more than one red flag there.

The best thing you can do is go to your GP and tell him or her what your concerns are. They should be able to refer you to an appropriate proffessional to assess your son.

[honey1361]

Do they refer to professionals? When I raised the issue with my gp ( just about head banging) she said it is normal and dont worry, but I am concerned that if he is, maybe something can be done to help him

[purplecoathanger]

As you are concerned, I would ask for a referral to the Community Paediatrician.

[Pansiesandredrosesandmarigolds]

No idea if he's autistic, but have a look at the m-chat. It's for older babies (18 months plus) but it might give you ideas for what to look out for.

[FrayedHem]

If you're not having much joy with the GP, you could try self-referring to Speech and Language Therapy. They may say wait until nearer 18 months, but if you explain you are concerned about his play skills, the head banging and his speech/communication and also that your brother has ASD that may add more weight to the referral. Some areas have drop in clinics, others you contact the SALT department directly. Also worth contacting your HV again raising your concerns to see if there are any assessments they can do.

Have a look at talkingpoint. As Pansies has mentioned, the M-chat is the main one to look at for ASD, but it is for children 18 months and above, so worth looking at when he hits that.

[duplofrenzy]

I don't think you will know for sure until older but just wanted to say that my now 8 year old did a lot of head banging at age 1 and 2 and only one word at 15 months but is now a chatty and normal 8 year old.

[laura6032]

I think he's too young to tell, and based on your older child being gifted and clever, you might be comparing chalk to cheese, your little guy sounds just like a boy to me

[bialystockandbloom]

I have to say the repetitive behaviour and the moving balls thing sounds a bit similar to my ds at that age (he was dx with ASD at 3 - and fwiw is doing brilliantly now aged 10). But it could all just be totally typical toddler behaviour.

At this age the key things are:
What's his understanding like? Does he understand if you eg ask him to get his shoes?
Does he "share" things with you (eg show you things, point to things, look at something then look at you to see if you see it too - all joint attention things.
Does his interaction with other children seem like theirs? Eg at a toddler group my ds was more interested in opening and closing a door than joining in what others were doing.

He is definitely too young to be assessed atm but listen to your gut feeling as the months go on, and if you're still having niggles at 18 months go to GP and ask for referral. All the best

[Starstarbright599]

I read somewhere that head banging can be a form of self soothing from pain or discomfort e.g. Teething, wet nappy etc
The words sound totally normal