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Autism or Delayed Speech?

11 replies

Mama2P · 09/09/2023 12:09

Hi, I’m new to this page but would love to hear from others with a similar experience.

My daughter just turned 2 last month. She had glue ear and grommets were inserted 2 months ago. The ENT had said she was one of the worst cases he had seen in a while and we should notice an immediate difference.

we have noticed she is calmer more receptive and sleeping really well.

some history our daughter met all her physical milestones sat up unassisted by 6 months, crawled at 8 months and walked at 14 months. She said mama and bub at 9 months but then stopped adding words. This was around a lot of ear infections and sicknesses.

fast forward to 24 months her vocabulary is mum, bub, ball, duh (for duck), Ba Ba (for sheep), pop (for bubbles) and ahh for ta.

she’s really behind where she should be for her age but we are unsure if the glue ear could have been the cause for delay or if it’s autism.

she laughs and smiles when we tickle her, chase her, sing to her and read books. She puts her arms up when asked, she understands Ta and gives us items, she understands No and come here. I ask her to pass me the ball and she grabs her ball and passes it to me. She will pass the ball back and forth to me and my husband and she high fives us when we ask.

she doesn’t appear to have sensory issues and she’s a pretty chilled kid no tantrums and happy for the most part. Eats well (although won’t use utensils). Sleeps well and does like cuddles. She claps but doesn’t wave hi or bye and doesn’t point to get attention but will point to things in books when asked.

she hand flaps when she holds objects that flaps around (balloon) (spaghetti) and will go on tippy toes sometimes not daily though just every now and then.

woukd really appreciate some guidance from those who have had a similar experience. What was the outcome, was it glue ear that caused delay or does this sound like she has autism?

OP posts:
legalseagull · 09/09/2023 16:21

My daughter had terrible glue ear. She barely spoke any words by her 2 year check with the HV. It wasn't until she was closer to 4 that language really started coming. She's 5 now and completely caught up.

Mama2P · 09/09/2023 23:01

Thankyou! Do you mind me asking how many words you’r child had at 2? And how long after grommets did more words form?

OP posts:
USERk · 10/09/2023 13:43

Hello. Do you mind me asking how you knew your dc needed hearing tested? Our little one is 20 months and we have been told by HV he is speech delayed / possible autism. Sounds quite similar to your little one in that he does everything as normal but no pointing, only babbles etc...
I've always assumed hearing is fine due to responding to sounds on TV or certain tv programme theme songs. Sometimes responds to name but sometimes ignores. HV asked if we've ever taken them for hearing test but we never have. Do you think its worth doing?

Ponche · 10/09/2023 14:12

Try the MCHAT and see how she scores - https://www.autismspeaks.org/screen-your-child.

At 2 (and now at nearly 3) my DD didn’t point to request but nor did she point to things in books. Response to name was inconsistent. She tip toed sometimes but I thought that was just a thing that some kids did at that age.

A few months after turning 2, it became more and more clear that she was displaying autistic traits. Last year she scored medium risk on the MCHAT and now she scores high.

Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers, Revised (M-CHAT-R™) | Autism Speaks

The M-CHAT-R is an autism test that asks 20 questions about your toddler's behavior to screen for autism. Get the results immediately.

https://www.autismspeaks.org/screen-your-child

Ponche · 10/09/2023 14:27

When I first rang HV due to concerns about no first words, they gave some advice and said they’d call back in a couple of months to see how she’s getting on and next steps after that could be a hearing test.

When they called back and there were still no words (my DD was 18 months at this point), they referred her for a hearing test even though we had no concerns about her hearing.

It’s best to rule any hearing issues out so I’d say it’s definitely worth doing. DD passed the test and then we were told to wait for the 2 year check and raise our concerns about speech then.

Mama2P · 11/09/2023 01:52

My daughter would respond to sounds and music but she was sick a lot and wouldn’t turn to her name or listen to simple instructions. We took her to an audiologist who said she had fluid behind her ears after doing the vibration test. We then saw an ENT who looked in her ears and said yes glue ear. After the grommet surgery he said there was a lot in there and we should see an immediate difference.

I think balance, engagement, receptive language have improved alot since they have been in (8 weeks) but with words she doesn’t say any with meaning except mum and she does label things (duh for duck and ball for ball) still no pointing she just goes to what she wants and gets upset when we don’t understand.

OP posts:
legalseagull · 11/09/2023 13:11

We had no idea our daughter was struggling with ear infections. She would scream bloody murder at night but couldn't talk to tell us why. It's only when her ear drums would burst and the gunk would pour out that we knew.

She didn't get grommets in the end. She was on antibiotics for about a year and waiting for grommets but then covid happened and we were cancelled. Thankfully she seems to have grown out of the problem (she's now 5)

By age 2 she probably had 10 words at best. I was so worried. Her understanding of language was good though. So if I said "go get the red book from the table" she would understand. If they understand then the spoken language should follow eventually.

legalseagull · 11/09/2023 13:13

Mama2P · 11/09/2023 01:52

My daughter would respond to sounds and music but she was sick a lot and wouldn’t turn to her name or listen to simple instructions. We took her to an audiologist who said she had fluid behind her ears after doing the vibration test. We then saw an ENT who looked in her ears and said yes glue ear. After the grommet surgery he said there was a lot in there and we should see an immediate difference.

I think balance, engagement, receptive language have improved alot since they have been in (8 weeks) but with words she doesn’t say any with meaning except mum and she does label things (duh for duck and ball for ball) still no pointing she just goes to what she wants and gets upset when we don’t understand.

8 weeks is no time at all. It was over a year after coming off the antibiotics that my DD started having leaps in language. When she started reception her teacher could barely understand her. She's just started y1 now you wouldn't know there was ever a problem.

BodegaSushi · 11/09/2023 13:32

Hi OP, do you have any other/older children? And if so, how did their development compare to that if you're daughter's?

Mama2P · 12/09/2023 04:31

This is our first child so as a first time mum trying to understand what’s normal and not can be daunting.

OP posts:
Elleh87 · 14/04/2024 06:03

Hi @Mama2P,

was just wondering if you have any updates?

I am having the exact same experience as you have described. DS has a speech delay and had grommets in 9 weeks ago.

His Creche flagged Autism to me last year, which led us to glue ear and now after the grommets speech is slowly coming on but his behaviour (hitting because frustrated) is worse.

So the Creche has flagged Autism again! But like your DD he understands everything, is affectionate, plays pretend! He doesn’t do well in large groups and finds the Creche very noisy and tends to play on his own! I am just very confused!

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