HELP!!! 7 month old displaying signs of autism or not?!!

They all have very variable development in the first year/18 mths and your baby sounds in the normal range.

I have worked with lots of babies and children under 5. I can pretty much pick up autistic tendencies within short period of time now but even I couldn’t pick it up quite as young as 7mths. If your baby does have autism it will become more obvious once they reach 18mths-2years for typical traits. Some children with less obvious traits may not be picked up until a little older.

@Mumof3bb1 hello, I know this is an old thread but just wondering how your little boy is now? Lots of anxiety and read some of your posts about your concerns at the time and they are almost identical to my baby girl 9 months

He sounds perfectly normal for his age!

I know you’re worried @Yas1362but tou really do need to start your own thread instead of reviving all of these old ones

I think this is signs of growing up. Emotions change in children as they grow up and become mature. They start reacting differently to things. Stay on alert and keep tabs, and look for the changes, they will keep coming.

@Mumof3bb1 hi. Can I ask how is your son now?

Hi @Mumof3bb1 . I wonder how is your son doing now?

It's still too early to tell and most of what you describe without us seeing him sound pretty typical of any baby.

Children I've cared for from babies (12-18mths) that have been diagnosed with autism tended to be very fussy babies who found it hard to self sooth when waking up or falling asleep or if they couldnt have what they wanted (all babies might cry but this was excessive and angry). Showed some stimming behaviours such as hand and feet flapping, tended to climb more than typical babies or get into odd places. They'd show little interest in adults and just ignored other babies and climb over they as if they were just more toys on the floor. They also liked to just tip things out of containers without being interested in the contents. They were slow to point at things or try to babble at others.

All normally developing children go through stages of what your describing the problem is if they regress or do not move past them in an appropriate way.

Hi just wondering how your LO is doing? Have similar concerns x

You still won't accept what everyone is saying .....why not? Sounds like you may need help for your anxiety

Nothing on your "negatives" list sounds out of the ordinary to me either.

I knew my child was autistic at that age because he didn't have a social smile and he didn't watch me move around the room/leave the room. He just lay there neither happy nor sad and didn't really cry to be fed/changed etc it was up to me to push him to eat. He just started at lights/moving things and didn't notice people. Nothing you describe screams autistic to me. But then everyone told me it was too young to know with my son now he's 7 and still has no school place as nowhere can meet need because all through early years I was fobbed off as it's too early to tell. For this reason I don't like to say don't worry about because if there is something it's only being pushy as a parent that will get your child needs acknowledgment let alone support

@Mumof3bb1 - at 7 months both my boys were typical babies, meeting all milestones and there were no concerns at all. They are both diagnosed autistic. You honestly just cannot tell at 7 months.

I mean this kindly: have you considered speaking to your GP about your anxiety?

Everybody who's commented and knows about children's development has reassured you. Is there a reason for your anxiety like family history or PND?
Many things considered autistic traits in older children are a normal stage of development and it's only if the child doesn't move on as they grow it becomes notable. Your baby sounds to be doing exactly as they should.

I have a lot of experience working with asd kids and I'm autistic. I started to recognise signs in my ds when he was about 10m. He never babbled, his face had very little expression except when he was screaming which he did a lot. He didn't snuggle in. His sleep was awful.

But even then although I suspected, I waited Then when he still not talking and had same issues at 18 months I asked the hv to come and observe him.

7m is very early to be concerned and to be honest most of the things you are concerned about are not early signs. Babies change massively in the first year try to relax and don't compare.

Step away from Google, chuck out any milestones books and enjoy your baby.

Baby sounds completely average and normal.

You are just scaring yourself silly.

You honestly cannot tell at that age. Both my boys are autistic but at 7 months were hitting all their milestones no problem. Keep a note of when he does different things, otherwise just wait and see, but at this stage it all sounds normal!

Nothing you mention are red flags he just sounds like a baby doing baby things 🤷‍♀️

Some parts yes- looking up at lights, trees.. but all babies do this too.
other parts are complete opposites- cried all the time, sleep was really bad, really bad separation anxiety, still made eye contact, still babbled and said mama and dada, clapped but all this regressed after 1 year old, so I really wouldn’t worry it sounds like he is just fine 😊 all babies do things at their own speed don’t worry honestly x

I guess I always just ‘knew’ something was different while DD was very young.. but i wouldn’t think too much into it. I would wait until 1 year at least don’t worry yourself , sounds like usual baby behaviour all babies are different 🙂