Normal development or early autism signs?

[Newmum26]

My LO is 8 Months Old and developing normally and meeting all milestones.
He's crawling, was sitting up at 4 Months and is very vocal babbles and smiles and laughs a lot. He has started clapping his hands and is a quick learner.
There are a few things I'm worried about that I'm not sure being a first time Mum if it's normal baby behaviour or early signs of autism and I'm stressing myself out.
He twists his wrists and has done since he was little when ever he gets excited, and he likes to feel things and use his thumb to press against things and bends his knuckle. I'm aware these things may just be a baby developing and learning new hinges around him but I could really do with some advice and reassurance that other people's babies do this and have not got autism.
Thanks in advance 😊

[Thiswayorthatway]

Perfectly normal, your baby is enjoying exploring.

[Goldmandra]

These are definitely perfectly normal things for babies to do.

You may see your DD do lots of things you've seen children with autism do. That is because an awful lot of autistic behaviour is neurotypical behaviour taken to extremes.

I have two DDs with autism. If I were to describe any one of the their behaviours, another parent in the vicinity would be able to say "My child does that too." The difference is that my children do those things to the extent where they become a problem or maybe do that thing and a huge number of other similar things which individually seem normal but taken as a bigger picture are problematic.

I don't think you should worry about autism unless you start to see a number of developmental differences or difficult behaviours that you believe could have a negative effect on her ability to live a normal life.

In the meantime, just enjoy her

[Newmum26]

Thank you for replying 😊 x

[xamyrose]

My baby is also 8 months and does this with her feet. I think it’s normal!

If you have any other questions message me, it’s nice to have another mum with a baby the same age! x

[ProfessorSillyStuff]

My son is 20 months now and I'm fairly sure he's got aspergers or asd. Main clues were lack of eye contact, lack of affection, not noticing or ignoring people around him, not clapping, not waving, not pointing or looking at things that i point at, not responding to his name and constantly biting, ripping and picking at things, along with stimming in the form of arm flapping and repetitive squeaking/yipping type stuff. Language just stopped after he said ma and da at 9 months, oh also rocking in high chair, banging head on walls, doors etc. repeatedly

A lot of which is normal baby stuff but when it's all the time it's odd for an 18 month old

If that sounds like your daughter then yea i'd worry... otherwise no