Autism signs 13 months old

[CakesandCoffee]

Hello!

My daughter is showing signs of autism such as not responding to her name when called or will turn occasionally. She also doesn't tend to smile when smiled at. I also worry about her hearing as she isn't bothered by loud noises such as ambulance going by, she won't notice it. She also doesn't look when I point at something. We've been referred for a hearing test and speech therapy as she only babbles from time to time but not any proper words yet. She will respond when I sing nursery rhymes and enjoys it, will give good eye contact then but that's about it.

I just want to get some advice on what else to look out for and what the typical signs are.

Sorry for the long explanation!

Thank you in advance!

I think you have done the best thing already and got referals.

They will give you advice and help, its tough when your gut is saying somethings not quite right, but let them do the diagnosing and just support your child as much as possible through there advice.

Thank you for your message. Yes, absolutely seeking professional advice will be good for us. I was hoping to hear from others of their experience and offer any advice on what other steps to take.

She’s 13 months! Don’t panic. Definitely get the hearing test but try not to be worried. ASD is very tricky to diagnose at such an age.

Hi OP! Does she like games? Make any hand gestures? Enjoy music? Reach to you for cuddles? Etc.

Well she doesn't really point at what she wants but instead goes and gets it and doesnt bring things to show me. She does enjoy playing games together for example we have this toy picnic basket with slots to insert the different shaped plastic fruit and she gives us a lot of eye contact when playing with her. Also with other sort of musical toys or big puzzles pieces, she likes to press the buttons and tries to put the big puzzle pieces together with our help of course. She enjoys when we sing the nursery rhymes and smiles but doesnt do any of the hand gestures like clap or anything. She will come over when I start singing and sits in front of me to listen to the song and will look me in the eye and then over at my hands when it's time to clap for example when singing if you're happy and you know it. She likes peek a boo but again won't cover her eyes but will happily watch me and laugh. She will reach up when wanting to get out of her cot and when she wants to be picked up especially when she's tired.

She will look over sometimes when we call her name but not as often as when I sing nursery rhymes. I am not sure if she just hears certain sounds. Also loud noises don't seem to trouble her, an ambulance will go by and she won't even turn but when she hears one of those vtech toise with noise, she turns to look.

She is takes a few steps unaided and loves to walk around now and sleeps well and eats well.

She also tends to shake her head from side to side occasionally but I was told that it could be due to teething, she got her first tooth at 10 months and they've all started to come out.

Long message but I'm worried!

Sorry for the typos! Rushing on my phone!

The things she doesn't do:

-look around when heading loud sounds/noise
-doesn't look at other children playing in the playground but instead looks around in general or at birds but doesnr really focus on children playing.
-doesn't look at who is calling her or make a lot of eye contact when someone if trying to get her attention, getting her attention is often a struggle.

Thanks again!

My son was diagnosed at 23 months, but he will be rediagnosed in months to come. (We went private as it was an 18m wait).

For me his ASD symptoms were distinct behaviours so seperate from hearing or speech alone difficulties.

No typical babbling
No pointing or hand movements
No responding to words or his name
Such incredible concentration on particular tasks and no interest in most typical toys
Very laid back and not bothered by sirans etc
Wanted to collect objects and items and played like this the entire day
Very specific dietary needs

There are tons more but this a flavour. He is cuddly affection and has OK eye contact with me so those aren't always markers.

I imagine they won't do a great deal for you yet. I find in theory they talk a lot about early intervention but very little really comes. Keep pushing for support and read as much around it as you can.

She sounds exactly like my daughter at that age OP. My daughter is nearly 2 and so far, NT. She didn’t point until about 15 months, and she has only recently started waving bye bye. Now she does both all the time! The fact she likes to play with you and smiles/engages is great. If I were you I wouldn’t be worried. Just keep playing interactive games, pointing at things, chatting away etc and give it a few more months

Thank you both for your messages. We will keep trying and will have her seen by the specialist they've referred me to just in case. Its just so hard to pin point these things and of course reading on the Internet doesnt help as almost everything I've looked up points to autism. Will probably go down the private route if the wait is long. I'm keeping notes and hopefully things change in the next few months.

Have a lovely evening!

I can't actually believe you've got a speech referral for a 13 month old - children aren't expected to be speaking at that age.

Everything you've described sounds completely NT - please don't rush for a diagnosis of anything. She's so young and will change so much over the next few months.

Remember that autism is a developmental delay, so some of the things which are signs of autism in a 3 or 4 year old are perfectly normal and expected behaviours in a 1 or 2 year old.

Is there a history of autism in your family?

I hope that the assessment is helpful for you, but what I find most helpful (as a parent of one SN child and one neurotypical one) is to think about what my child is working on or what their skills are now that they couldn't do before, not necessarily in the context of any disorder but just in terms of enjoying where they are now and what they have achieved for themselves.

Is there a reason why you are panicking so much? Have you been googling a lot or something? None of those things really are signs of anything? If your child does has autism then so be it, you will love them unconditionally. Some of things you are describing such as eye contact etc are not indicators of anything. Glad you got the referral and hopefully that goes smoothly for you.

She definitely needs a thorough hearing check before you start worrying about anything else. A lot of what you describe could indicate that she isnt hearing things properly. Her language skills will be behind if that's the case.

I could have written this post just shy of a year ago and I googled the same sorts of things you have googled and all I got back was austism. Fast forward to now, and we spoke to a speach therapist and had his hearing checked. Hearing was fine and speach and language listened to our concerns and gave us some good tips to get him to engage. He turned 2 at Christmas.. now he's pointing (and understanding pointing) , using simple words, listening and understanding loads of stuff I'm genuinely quite shocked at the progress especially in the last 2-3 months, he responds to his name (I honestly though he had a hearing problem) and makes all sorts of animal noises.

We played a lot of games that involved getting us to play together. Roll a ball to her and get her to roll it back, if she's interested in something, interrupt her play to include yourself.

I actually don't think they will do anything for you in terms of an ASD assessment anyway, so you will have time to see her development. I'm sure it will become clear for you over time. Like most people have said your baby is about to undergo a period of rapid development.

My son had very little development between 1 and 2 so it was obvious for us, he's over 2 now and still in some development areas around 6-9months

13 months is really really young to be diagnosed, there's such a huge variety in development at that age that it would need to be a very conclusive case and even then I doubt you'd get a firm diagnosis until they'd reached an age where more milestones could be looked for, just to be conclusive. My son was diagnosed just before he turned 3 and that was considered pretty early. Fwiw there were a few things that traditionally meant he 'couldn't possibly' be autistic such as fabulous eye contact and pointing but it's a spectrum, some things will be present and some things won't, it's the amount and severity that are key and they can only be assessed by consultants or Ed psychs who are highly trained in giving such diagnoses.

Hearing test is great, that'll rule out a lot (abd does sound like it could be a culprit for a lot of behaviours you're describing). Her other behaviours-could be something, could be personality, could be she's just working on developing those because she is still very very young.

Try not to worry or panic. It can seem scary at first and google really isn't your friend in these situations. Remember as well that our world would be bereft without autistic brains and their contributions to so many different fields. My son is bloody awesome, his neurotypical brother is frequently much harder work! But for now just focus on the hearing and the speech and take any next steps as they come.

Thank you all for your messages, it's helpful to hear from others and their experience. I have been googling a lot which I know I shouldn't but it's helpful to get a better understanding of what to look out for and things that I can do to help etc. She is still very small and will learn new things everyday. I compare to my eldest who was almost the opposite at the same age and I shouldn't as children are all different. I'm hoping to hear back soon and I know it will take time but the sooner the better.

Thanks again!

Hello,

Just update on the progress. We've got a hearing test appointment scheduled and waiting to hear back from the other referrals. My little girl is now getting better with eye contact, she will come for hugs when I call and she sees me with my arms open. She will look over when her name is called but not all of the time and definitely more than a few weeks ago. We've recently been playing tag well more like me saying I'm going to get you and she will giggle and run off and look back to seen if I'm chasing her. Not much progress on speech, she babbles a little bit not yet saying mama or dada. When she wants attention she will come to us and hold up her arms when she wants to be held. She tends to clap but not when encouraged or if I clap she doesn't copy but will later clap whilst babbling with herself. She will respond better when the room is quite and she is not distracted. We play peek a boo and she giggles but doesnt copy. She also enjoys it when we play with her whereas before she would enjoy mainly playing on her own. We still find it hard to get her attention when out and about as she will not respond to her name then unless I start to sing a favourite song and she tends to be in her own world at times but making progress slowly.

Still not sure what to make of it all, this could all be normal or it could be a sign of something but we will be doing our best and I'm pleased to see this progress.

She's just a baby. I wish we weren't so quick to label everything and everyone.

When my son was on his back, he used to "thrash" his arms and legs, from about 8 or 9 months.
It later turned out that was a sign.
My son is great now, has a dx yes but he is a smart, funny boy.

I could of wrote this. Ds has his 13m review. Lots he scored 0 on.
Compared to my other dcs he's very different, I know all kids are different so wasn't comparing in a horrible way.
At the 13m review. As he had low scores they said they'd contact in 3months
That was 5 weeks ago and you'd never believe the difference. He is more responsive. And does so much more than he did
Food is still a massive issue but lots due to allergies. But we're getting there.

Give it time.
Just think babies have had very little interaction with others over the last year.
My ds had a speech therapist appointment due to how he eats as they look at tongue movements (he didn't eat solids till about 10 months would choke and heave) but all was good. And has improved in that too. But a long way off still. He's now nearly 15m

DC's didn't wave, didn't point, didn't ask to be picked up by putting up arms etc.

One could use a two word sentence age 14 months but regressed and did not pick up speech again until 23 months.
One didn't speak much at all and needed speech therapy.
Was interested in wheels before age one. (Really intense interest, ignoring all else)
One slept well,one didn't. They have swapped around now in sleeping.
One waved objects.
Both sensory issues. (Hypo and hyper sensitivities)
One did play peepo. Didn't cover their own eyes, but laughed at us.

My daughter had the hearing test today which results are not clear so will need to be repeated in 2 months. They said she has glue ears in both which hopefully should clear by the next appointment. They cannot say for sure if this could explain her delays but might be a reason why she isn't doing some of the things she should at her age. The hearing test results are not clear and its a shame having to wait another 2 months and even then, they might not be able to get the clear results. All of these appointments seems to take to long and I worry for her to go on longer without hearing properly which us of coursing affecting her development.

@CakesandCoffee How is your LO doing now?