So family friend says her ds was diagnosed asd at 9 months old

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Is this possible? I always thought that would be way too young. Just for some information, he is what would be called high functioning, no learning difficulties. I am interested because this woman tends to think she knows it all and this just seems a little extreme to me, but happy to be told if I'm wrong

My child was also diagnosed at the age of 2.

My son was 8 months old when I first said that I thought he was autistic. However I’d told my friend within minutes of his birth that something was ‘wrong’ with him and she then asked the pediatrician to check him over again. They said everything was fine but as the mother of a large family I knew it wasn’t. Eventually he was diagnosed by Lorna Wing when we were on a visit to the Uk when he was 4 but it was only a formality as it had been very obvious from a very young age.

Sorry, just to say that he was 8 months old when I voiced my thoughts re Autism. I’d been saying it to myself for months prior to that.

But he wouldn't have Been given a diagnosis at nine months though
It was abundantly clear my son wss autistic too.and he's severely impacted but he wss still only diagnosd at three .

Scientists have identified some patterns in foetus growth that they believe to be biomarkers for autism but are years away from actually using them to diagnose.

One is to do with head growth which DD actually followed the pattern and was diagnosed at 13 years, It was noticed at the 20 week scan her head was rugby ball shaped (long and thin, not Hey Arnold) so I had loads of extra scans and then towards the end of my third trimester it corrected itself. This was found to be a pattern amongst lots of children who were later to be found to be autistic.

I know a couple of children diagnosed at 2 and signposted before then.

I didn’t say they would.

And we’ve always gone it alone with our DS, we hand picked anyone he saw and still do. Not that we live in the UK and have experienced SS hence the private diagnosis by Lorna Wing at Elliot House when in the UK on holiday.

And who are we to say the person referred to in the OP is lying - perhaps it is possible to diagnose at such a young age. There’s enough of us here who have seen it at months old.

People need to think outside the box. Or are we to say something isn’t possible because it’s not our experience. There are so many different ways of doings things.

Mine was the same, although dx at 2 years 4 months . They did say they'd have diagnosed him from 18 months if they had seen him earlier .

Scientists have identified some patterns in foetus growth that they believe to be biomarkers for autism but are years away from actually using them to diagnose..

I didn’t mention it but I even knew when I was pregnant that something was amiss. Things just didn’t feel right and I also told my friend but we put it down to just one of those things.

My DS is high functioning ASD and while I noticed things early and had concerns before he was 1, we didn’t have enough evidence for a referral until he was 4, and he was diagnosed at 5.5 - the only children I’ve known to be diagnosed relatively early by about 2 have been profoundly autistic to the extent of being non verbal etc with very clear cut difficulties. I don’t think it’s possible for a child to have a firm diagnosis at 9 months, especially not a high functioning autistic child.

The thing is though, as well as being able to see signs and symptoms of asd they also have to rule out any other potential causes, and assessing those with a 9 month old baby who is unable to speak, or follow instructions, or complete various tasks is not possible.

@PollyThePixie I knew something wasn't right with my now 15 year old when I was pregnant. I didn't know what but he moved much less than his brother and I was so tired but not sick when I was pregnant with him, unlike his older brother. I kept saying to the midwife and the Drs something wasn't right but they just said I was anxious and depressed. Then when they put the heartbeat monitor thing on with the straps a few days before he was born he suddenly started moving around continuously like he was thrashing around in there. This happened several times and he stopped within minutes of it being taken off. I was convinced the machine was hurting him somehow and I begged them to take it off but I was told I was being ridiculous. Since he was born he has always thrashed around like that when he experiences sensory overload. I don't know how the machine works and how it detects contractions/ baby's heart best but I stand by my original view that it was upsetting him somehow.

@elliejjtiny I believe you ❤️

I believe everything you’ve said. ❤️

My son is in his 30’s now. How is your boy. Is he doing ok?

I first started thinking my now 21 yo was autistic when he was around 16 months old. He wouldn't respond to me at all, he wouldn't care if we left the room, he'd just sit happy in his own world opening and closing doors or flicking switches. He didn't understand anything we said to him, didn't babble. Said "oh dear" at 13 months old, then didn't talk again till he was 5.

Other signs were there earlier looking back - going on holiday with him was horrendous, we went away when he was 4 months, and 13 months. As an already terrible sleeper it was a hundred times worse. I don't think he liked not being in his own house.

I checked with my HV when he was nearing his 2 year check and she sent me a questionnaire. Ticking no for almost every developmental milestone (except gross motor skills) was hard. He was diagnosed with social communication difficulties at 2, then autism at 2.5. He also has learning disabilities.

With my now 16 yo it wasn't obvious till he started school, although with hindsight I can see their were signs when he was a toddler, but no way at 9 months. And I was looking for it (although not as fervently as when I had my 19 yo) He is "high functioning", no learning disabilities.

@PollyThePixie Thank you for believing me. My boy is very obviously autistic to anyone who meets him but we are still waiting for the diagnosis. We finally got the good news 9 months ago that the nhs have agreed to assess him though, after being told over the years that he didn't qualify for assessment because his symptoms weren't severe enough, that he couldn't be autistic because he had friends and finally because he was too old (aged 11). He is my absolute joy though and a smile from him is worth more than diamonds when I get one. He loves maths and formula 1 in equal measure and wants to work as an engineer for the Mercedes team when he grows up.

I work in mental health and I find people use the word 'diagnosed' in the wrong way.
We absolutely do not diagnose in the service I work in but they will still come to me and announce that a previous therapist diagnosed them with say PTSD for example. They categorically didn't but they may well have mentioned that some symptoms of this were present etc.
it's just misunderstanding probably.
Or alternatively they are maybe so confident that their child has ASD that they are lying to trying and help people understand what they're dealing with, confident that one day it will be true

Who said he is high functioning? Who said he has no learning difficulties? You? The family friend?

Very unusual.

Dd was 5 when she was dx'd (just after the book changed so she wasn't Asperger's but ASD (high functioning) formally, and ADHD).

Creche picked it up when she was 3.5/4 and told us at the final developmental meeting before going to primary. School Pooh-poohed the idea initially, but agreed by Christmas, and we already had got GP referral for assessment by then. She was actually dx'd mid-March of her junior infants year.

And we were told many times since that this was incredibly early, especially for a girl - but also that it was absolutely correct.

I could see some parts of the ASD scale being possible to identify under a year. But so many things aren't yet supposed to have happened so haven't yet been missed by 9 months, that it sounds odd at least.

I should probably add that the wait from referral to assessment was 9 months and the actual assessment took over 6 months to do before we got a formal DX.

Did she get him added to a waiting list whilst he was still in utero?

My son was diagnosed just as he turned 3..dispite passing his 2 year check he did t talk until 7, went to SEN nursery then straight into a SLD ASD school. He had very very clear traits by 16 months. However he still can't read or write at 11, it's become clear over the years that not everything is explained by ASD and luckily we have picked up additional diagnoseses over the years. That a issue with a diagnose very young. It was "he has asd so he on with it" when in fact lots of therapy has helped with the other diagnosis.

Hey hope you don't mind me asking, what signs was there at 11 months please? X

It’s a social communication disorder, what signs can one show before they can even speak or gesture?

My dd was diagnosed with delays at 6 months, then dyspraxia at 2, autism at 2.5. She's completely surpassed her drs expectations as she is fully verbal and of very high intelligence as an adult but I was told to expect the worst at 2.5

Hey what signs were there at 9 months please? Just trawling through the internet getting information as I'm worried! Thank you