Autism in babies…

I have two autistic children and another one awaiting a diagnosis. All three were totally different personalities as babies and younger children.

I’ve had ahead of the norm in some areas, behind in others and easy times, normal times and difficult times.

hey thanks for your reply. Noooo she definately doesn’t have that, when I read about facial features it just said that those with autism are likely to have wider upper face including wide eyes and shorter mid face my daughter has very big prominent eyes slightly wide spaced and she definately has a shorter mid face compared to my others but that’s it, to anyone else she looks perfect it’s just because I know what I’ve read and clearly worried myself xxx

This. He woke every 45 minute from three months to just gone a year. Didn’t sleep through until sometime in YR. I think some friends thought we were exaggerating.

He also did all the milestones in the wrong order. As first time parents we were perplexed but assumed it was normal. The baby ‘hadn’t read the book’.

I have a child with ASD and is very normal looking. However, my friend’s DS has Fragile X syndrome which has very specific facial features so I think that this may be what you are thinking of. They also have ASD but it is the Fragile X that gives them specific facial features.

Both my boys are autistic and have different learning needs. My youngest who has always been in specialist school setting and is much more affected than my eldest.

My youngest was very ‘Willful’ (for want of a better word) even as a six month old. He knew exactly what he liked and didn’t like and there was no persuading him any different. He’s still like that but is now open to discussing the whys and wherefores.

I personally think the milestones are more related to the learning difficulties side of things rather than autism itself. My eldest had delayed speech, but only a little delayed, but at school was thought to have hyperlexia - however his comprehension has always been behind. My youngest didn’t speak until about the age of five - his reading is now very good but academically he is really behind and scored very low on the cognitive tests performed but he educational psychologist.

the ‘autism’ side of things are much easier to deal with for us rather than the learning difficulties side.

My DD was a very passive baby, brilliant sleeper, happy to just sit and watch, but she did develop stranger danger appropriately at 9 months. She would go to other people easily but only if me or her dad or someone else she knew well was around. She never reached for toys. She never crawled, wouldn’t weight bear and walked at 18 months with a lot of encouragement. She talked very young and her speech was advanced. She took weeks to settle at pre-school and that’s when we realised there was something different up till then we thought we had a very easy baby/child.

Can I ask what the genetic disorder is hun?? Thankyou for replying xxxx

Thanks hun, yeah I was under that impression however after visiting dr Google I’ve scared myself half to death about little one 😢 her eyes are definately more wide set and also her mid face is shorter which are apparently characteristics…. She’s beautiful and I love her to death ol
just concerned that she may have a more severe form if that makes sense! Thankyou for replying, and hope I didn’t come across as rude in what I said ❤️❤️❤️ xxx

Some babies with unusual facial features may have a genetic difference that may or may not be associated with autism.

@Mumof2soontobe3katy Nope. We're just regular looking people. Autism doesn't come with particular facial features 🤷🏻‍♀️

@Mumof2soontobe3katy no, my only child who has wide set eyes is my only child who doesn't have autism, he has a genetic condition instead.

3 of my dc have physical signs that they have autism but they weren't obvious at your little one's age. My ds1 has a confused look on his face when he is in social situations, a bit like everyone else is speaking a different language to him. Ds2 will stand still with his hands folded in front of him and a look of discomfort on his face. Dc5 will often look down so I've got very few photos of his face. He will also not appear to see anything or make eye contact.

Well I had one extremely unsettled and unhappy baby, spent most of his first year in A&E I was so convinced there was something wrong, I couldn't put him down for a minute.
Then a very happy passive baby.

Both met milestones on the early side of average - walked at 10mths, then 9mths.

One exceptionally intelligent, one very average.

Both completely NT.

You just really can't tell when they're babies, you can apply things with hindsight.

No, both my nephew and niece were “normal” looking babies. And they’re “normal” looking teenagers now who happen to have autism. You wouldnt know from a photograph.

Hello all I’m wondering if I can jump on and ask very personal question to those who have autistic children? Do any of them have any specific facial features at all? Wide set eyes? Small/large mouth??
I strongly suspect my 3rd child is going to be autistic, she has tongue thrusted since the minute she was born, she has wide set eyes, not massively wide but definately noticeably wider than my other 2 children were and then she is just very different in general! The reason I am asking this question is she is only 6 weeks old and I guess I’m trying to gage what scale, are the facial features a sign that it will be more severe 💔😥 hope you don’t mind me jumping on guys xxx

What signs did you detect at 9 months please?

Thank you in advance

Some of us with a visual impairment do this too. I can't physically look straight ahead

DS also looked past me when I fed him, sort of to the side of my face rather than at it.

Sensory issues alone dont always mean autism though.

One of mine was obsessed with wheels as a baby. (Pre one)

Didn't wave or point as a baby. Didn't gesture to be picked up.

One had obvious sensory issues from early on.

My DD was extremely unsettled as a baby. She cried constantly for her first year, constantly clingy and needing to be on me. She was also a very early talker, sentences by 18 months ("Is Daddy upstairs? When is Daddy coming down stairs? Can I have breakfast, please?" etc) but she has no ADHD/ASD. She's a very well rounded 10 year old, very well behaved, top sets in class, loads of friends, no problem interacting with other kids, loads of extracurricular interests etc. I'm not sure how you can quantify someone's description of their baby's behaviour as being in the middle of hard work and passive. Many people don't want to label their kids as hard work, or assume all kids are like that.
What you need to do is analyses data from a longitudinal study, where children have been diagnosed with autism at some point in their childhood, and look for factors that correlate highly with this outcome, such as childhood behaviour, maternal stress/ mental health, drinking in pregnancy, family history of autism (if asked in the study) and even throw in whether or not vaccinated (because why not?) etc.

I knew something was wrong from son's very earliest days too. HV noted "mother is concerned there is something wrong" at his six week check. I think if you have older children you notice differences however small.
Ds1 was a high needs baby yet I was never concerned there was anything wrong even though he cried a lot. Ds3 though screamed constantly and couldn't be soothed and in fact picking him up made it worse.
My concerns at six weeks were that he didn't snuggle in against me he was pretty rigid and stiff when I picked him up and he always looked for a light rather than at my face when I fed him.

I have an autistic son (now 19), he was diagnosed aged 2 1/2 years old. He was very obviously autistic and had a quick (6 months) diagnosis. I knew from him being days old there was something different about him, he was so different compared to his older brother. I'd get wrong off the HV about comparing them and she'd sweep my concerns under the carpet. Saw a different HV for his 2 year check and has referred to paediatrics.

Some of the things that jumped out in his first 2 years that I can remember, as it was a while ago and quite a stressful time:

Never cried when hungry, had to guess.
Terrible sleeper, but rarely cried when he was awake to let you know.
Would projectile vomit after practically every feed.
When we moved to solids he refused any liquids from then on, I had to spoon feed milk into him. Even now he doesn't drink much, and only a specific three hour slot at night.
Screamed when unclothed, even worse in the bath (this lasted until he was 5 yrs old). Hated anything on his feet.
Screamed in supermarkets, more so in the fridge sections.
Milestones weren't great, didn't sit up until 10 months, did a weird backwards bum shuffle at 13 months, walked at 15 months but not confidently until 18 months. Walked on tiptoes.
Refused to have a thing in his hands, including toys and food, until almost 2, and then it had to be one in each hand otherwise he'd scream.
Never babbled, never talked until he was 7, only one word sentences though.
Didnt cry when he fell, even if he grazed himself, and didn't seek comfort.
Didnt really smile.
Lots of hand flapping.
Rolled toys in front of his eyes, would lie on the floor doing it forever. Only liked toys that spun.

I disagree based on my panel of 2 : twins, now 9, one with high functioning autism.
As babies and toddlers they were both ‘average’ babies, not the extremes you are describing. Seeing as I had two of the same age it is fairly easy to compare!
Re milestones, the one with ASD (boy) reached them 1-3 months later than the other one (girl) but this is not unusual for girls to reach these earlier so again, not convinced it was the ASD at play.
ASD traits started being visible at 4yo, and even then it wasn’t flagged as ASD yet.

OMG I’d forgotten the hearing thing - mine had repeated hearing tests (because of the S&L delay) and they failed them continuously, and even then the audiologist felt they were likely just not complying/playing with us).

I have two kids with adhd. Both very good babies, definitely not passive, however. Sleeping was dreadful for both of them as soon as they were in a bed and didn't have to stay confined to a cot!

They both became harder work when they hit around 4 years old. Constantly on the move, talking, not sleeping, jumping everywhere. Maybe they just stood out doing it at 4/5 whereas loads of kids were doing this at 3!

Neither of them particularly stood out as difficult babies/toddlers.

Both pretty average meeting milestones too.