Our son has just turned two and we're concerned about the possibility of autism.
He has never really pointed at anything, either to get our attention or to show us something. If he wants a drink he will get his beaker out of the kitchen cupboard and give it me but if the beaker is on the draining board, he'll stare at it grizzling but won't point to it or try to use speech to explain what he wants. His speech is poor and doesn't seem to be improving despite us attending a speech group run by our Health visitor. At the group he tends to just wander around the room and isn't interested in what is going on for most of the time; if he's asked to get a toy out of the bag for example he just stares blankly and doesn't copy what the other children are doing.
He has a few words such as mama, dada, no but words that he used previously a few months ago such as dog, ball, yes, up, down, wow, don't get used any more, instead he just babbles away. He doesn't really seem to respond to his name consistently, usually he just ignores it and carries on with what he is doing unless he is looking at me at the time (his hearing has been checked a couple of weeks ago and is fine). He can't comprehend what we say to him, for example, if I said "get your shoes" when his shoes were in sight of him, he wouldn't know what to do. If I said to "stand up" he wouldn't get what I was asking him to do. When we speak to him face to face, he stares intently at us but obviously hasn't got a clue about what we are saying, he doesn't nod his head to mean yes. He can't pick things out in books if I ask him to show me the teddy/ball and tries to turn the pages to the end of the book quickly then gets up.
He goes to toddler groups but these are hard work with him. He tends to pick up a piece of fluff or paper off the floor the minute we get there and won't let go of it for the whole session to the point that other parents notice this. If he loses the fluff, it's an instant tantrum. He doesn't sit for a few minutes to join in with songs, instead he just roams around and doesn't seem to remember actions that go with simple songs. At snack time he just plays with his snack, squashing and dropping food on the floor rather than eating. Toys like ride in cars seem to baffle him and he doesn't seem to know how to play with them, instead he fiddles with the wheels. He does get very frustrated and head bangs when he gets cross, arching his back and going rigid. If groups are very busy, tantrums happen several times over a session and he often covers his ears and closes his eyes or sits cuddled into my lap as if it's too much for him.
He is very affectionate, loves kisses and cuddles and approaches us for these. He makes good eye contact with us and his sisters but not with other people. He always runs up to us if one of us has been out of the house and wants to be picked up and enjoys playing with his sisters. He has good fine motor skills and is able to build towers with lego and hold crayons with a good grip.
We'll take him to the doctors this week to ask for a referral to look into his speech and understanding of speech problems. I've looked at the checklist for autism in toddlers and he seems to meet most of the criteria apart from the eye contact and affection side of things. Has anyone else had experience of this with a toddler?
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Possible autism in toddler
24 replies
Thomasthetank · 02/03/2014 17:41
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