Nursery hinting my 3 year old has autism.

The staff are very experienced @LostandFounded l would be inclined to listen to them .

Well, your child either has autism or he doesn’t. Nursery’s comments don’t make a difference to that either way. FWIW, your youngest sounds a lot like mine at the same age. Mine does have autism.

Autism can 100% be recognisable at age 3. That doesn’t necessarily mean that your child is autistic. I would be listening to what they are saying though and start educating myself about possibilities and what can be done to help. Take any support offered and be open minded.

Autism can 100% be recognisable at age 3. That doesn’t necessarily mean that your child is autistic. I would be listening to what they are saying though and star educating myself about possibilities and what can be done to help. Take any support offered and be open minded.

They aren’t diagnosing him they are just notifying you that they see traits so you are aware and can look into it more. Also like the other poster said if you work with autistic children a lot then it often is quite noticeable that there are signs.

While I respect the views of nursery workers, this is an interesting and sobering read. Misdiagnosis does happen, especially in very young children, and caution is advisable.

Don’t ignore them. My first child was a late talker, walker etc but not autistic.,My second (profoundly autistic) was also a late developer. The more people you can get onside, during the early years, the better. Of course it might prove to be something and nothing which I hope is the case.

Absolutely you can spot the sign in some children that early, not all but some for sure.

With all due kindness, the nursery workers have likely been around hundreds of children and have become adept at recognising certain behaviours that are more common in children with autism. 3 is the perfect age to get an autism assessment and to start working on coping strategies and support necessary for their future.
the staff aren’t insulting you or your child by mentioning this, they are simply doing their job

Does it make any difference? They are alerting you that there may be differences.

When DS was four (start of reception) his teachers said at parent's evening that they thought he might have differences / was presenting with some of the things they see in children with SEN. We completely disregarded it. He was diagnosed ASD at 17.

Your DC may indeed just have developmental delays that "come out in the wash." I guess if nursery are saying something to you they see it as significant enough to mention.

If you think nursery is not the right environment for your child, though, for whatever reason, you are of course free to look at alternatives.

I think my view would depend a lot on the experience of the people raising the concern.

I worked in education for around 20 years, and over that time I became adept at recognising children who were likely to be autistic, even if they hadn't yet been formally assessed. Of course, no teacher can diagnose autism, but experienced educators often notice patterns that are worth sharing with parents. I also wonder if being autistic myself has helped me recognise those traits more easily in some children.