My feed
Premium

Please
or
to access all these features

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

Behaviour/development

2.9 year old repetitive behaviour

5 replies

Bluehour · 15/01/2021 17:37

About 6 months ago my son started showing some repetitive behaviors, such as knocking on the washing machine or turning on and off his toy vacuum cleaner over and over. He also repeats some sentences such as “mom’s here” and “everything is fine” over and over especially when he is upset or bored, which has been happening a lot later.

His newest “obsession” has been the fan, he likes to turn it on and off multiple times just to jump around it and keep saying things like “the fan is on” and “we’ll turn it on again later”. The last days basically revolved around the fan.

He’s been going to a Waldorf school for the last couple weeks, and although I haven’t spoken to the teachers about these issues yet, I have a feeling that he keeps repeating the reassuring sentences that I mentioned before the whole time there, and hasn’t been really enjoying the place and the other kids’ company.

Other than that he has been reaching milestones when expected, has a good vocabulary, is very affectionate, so I don’t suspect of ASD, but I won’t be surprised if we find out he has ADHD.

I’ll speak to his doctor next week, but this has been really worrying me and I wonder if someone went through something similar and what happened thereafter.

Thanks!

OP posts:
Report
JiltedJohnsJulie · 16/01/2021 08:12

I don't think a good vocabulary and being affectionate necessarily rules out ASD OP but you are right to speak to the GP.

Report
CP2701 · 16/01/2021 13:51

Also, repetitive behaviours aren't really part of ADHD.

Report
JiltedJohnsJulie · 16/01/2021 14:46

Also, repetitive behaviours aren't really part of ADHD. That was my understanding too CP2701.

Report
AladdinMum · 17/01/2021 00:37

I agree with previous posters, repetitive behaviours are normally not associated with ADHD, it is not part of the diagnosis criteria. In addition children with ASD can have normal/advanced speech and can also be very affectionate, it is not uncommon. However, autism is much more than just repetitive behaviours and obsessions, significant decificts and struggles need to be present in social communication (as autism is a social communication disorder) like having not pointed to share interests (like a plane in the sky) by 18M, not showing/giving you objects of interest by 14M, etc (there are many more examples).

Report
Bluehour · 17/01/2021 16:59

Thank you all for your input!
The reason why I think he may have ADHD is because he has a lot of e energy and a hard time focusing, although it got slightly better over the past months.
I really don't know much about autism, but from what I've read until now the repetitive behaviour would be the only characteristic that he has. He communicates very well, I mean he shares interests, shows us things, makes connections, has a sense of humour,, etc.
It's not like he is repetitive all the time, it's noticeable that he becomes more repetitive when he is distressed, like when he is hungry or tired, so I've been wondering if he has anxiety.
Anyway, I can't wait for our appointment, as I'm convinced we need professional help.

OP posts:
Report
Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.