I am a mum to a DS2 now aged 3 and ¾ years. He has been doing really well developmentally over the last 2 years but he was a bit slow to get going. Although he seems to be doing everything thats age appropriate and has been since 18 months I find myself fretting continuously about autism amongst other things. I work fulltime with no access to the internet at home but when I come into work in the morning and sometimes check the special needs section of Mumsnet I always get in a panic as I recognise something that could be a symptom of autism. By the time Monday morning comes after a weekend with him I am completely confident that he is perfectly normal and that I was a fool for even considering such a thing. However can I ask all the experts out there what they think?
My worries
Didnt point until about 18 months and for a while I think it may have been with his whole hand until about 20 months, when he started to use his index finger. No problem with following a point or joint attention and pointed and points to objects that he wants
At about 2.5 years developed a dislike of loud noises like a siren or a loud horn. Still has it a bit. Doesnt or didnt have tantrums or anything. He just says Whats that noise or I don’t like that loud sound/noise and covers his ears sometimes. He sometimes anticipates a loud noise and covers his ears.However DS1 also does this a bit
He likes Thomas the tank. Was really into it for a while and puts his 4 troublesome trucks on the track attached to Thomas , watching them and talking about them . Plays out scenes from his video where Thomas falls in the mud and uses play dough sometimes to create the mud. Likes to have 4 . Not as into them in the last few weeks. Got the track for Xmas so the novelty has worn off.
He flapped his hands for a while about a year ago for a few months but no longer does it anymore
Used to like looking at the TV very close. However he is longsighted and again I notice he isnt doing it much anymore
Never repeated questions back to me or anyone else but an odd time repeats a word at the end of a sentence. Did this more a year ago and now much less. I feel hes only processing the word or trying out a complicated word
Took a while to start playing directly with other children . He knows all the children in the nursery school and is very friendly to them, i.e saying hello and goodbye , but I would say that he played alongside them pretty much until recently. He always joined in play with DS1, eg DS1 would say Come on outside and lets go on our bikes and DS2 would compy. However he is now initiating play a lot more.
The good things
He speaks well, up to 12 words in sentances, his grammer is age appropriate , ie past tenses, pronouns, plurals etc.
He is very sociable , loves talking to everyone he meets.In fact many people comment on how friendly he is.
He is a very good eater.
Has known all his colours for over a year. He knows his shapes, numbers and recently his letters
Can do 15 piece jigsaws, although this is a recent development. Was not that into them until recently
Understoods 3 part commands, such as Pick your car and your fork up. Put the fork in the sink and the car in the box
Can read peoples body language , like happy , sad etc
Has imaginative play and its developing more all the time. Hes big into food and enjoys pretending to cook and bake etc as well as pretending to be a policeman, driver etc
He loves nursery school and joins in with the other children with singing etc
He knows loads of nursery rhymes
Can count to 25
Answers questions, such as What if and What do you do when you are hungry etc
Asks and answers lots of Why questions
I know he is doing what he should be doing but as I said, I see one or 2 symptoms and I go beserk. I only strayed into the “Special needs” section by mistake one day! Sorry for the lengthy message and thanks for reading.
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4 replies
busyalicemum · 05/04/2005 11:06
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