I'm concerned that my son is showing signs of autism but at only 17 months old I'm worried that I could just be over reacting to simple things and driving myself mad. There isn't any known cases of autism on my side of the family but it is in my partners extended family. When my son was 9/10 months old, maybe earlier, he started babbling but by 12 months old the babbling had stopped completely.
He bangs his head against cupboards or windows, he purposely runs his feet over with ride on toys and he hits himself with toys. To show emotion, whether good or bad, he grabs his ears and makes loud noises, he hasn't ever said a word, only high pitched squealing or a frustrated shouting.
He will make eye contact and smiles and giggles but he doesnt wave or point and will only clap his hands if his arms are held up to do so. He answers to his name and reacts to a firm No but he doesnt mimic face expressions and would rather play by himself than with me or his dad. He cant handle loud noises or being crowded, he has a complete melt down if a door is closed in front of him and will hit out, slap or scratch for no reason at all. He puts his arms up to me to be held but will wriggle out of my arms when I try to cuddle him although he will tolerate a cuddle when he's tired. He has quite repetitive tendencies with particular toys but on the other hand will happily play with any toy offered to him. I'd like to know of any similar scenarios to this, should I proceed to have him tested despite his age or do I need to relax a little and continue to encourage joint play and speech .... please help