to ask if this is a sign of autism in toddlers?

[CloudiaPickle]

2.5 yo DD has three words only. I have self-referred to SALT as she also had then lost words. I know losing words can be indicative of autism but an extended family member told me today that something else speech related is a 'strong indicator' but ive never heard of it before so wanted to check here.

Rather than name objects, dd will describe them - I.e. She has signs/sounds (that don't sound remotely like the actual word) for colours and sizes or will make the noise. So for a car she'll say the colour or make an engine noise, for a tree/grass/grapes/peas etc she'll sign green butget ffrustrated if you don't know which of the above she means. She'snnever named an object, she makes animal noises but they're all pretty much the same yet she expects me to know the difference. She doesn't mimic speech at all and says words completely incomprehensibly - for example: red is lut, ear is tin etc.

Does anyone know if these could be signs of autism?

She is showing signs of having sensory processing difficulties as well then. I think the key thing for you to do now OP is start pushing hard for referrals.

Having an answer, whatever that may be, can only benefit you and her as you can be given specific strategies to work with her specific difficulties.

Not all HV's are great, and they aren't experts, so please don't wait until she's 3, that's ridiculous. Time really is of the essence as the earlier these things are discovered the better.

Two of my children have autism, one is at the higher functioning end of the spectrum, the youngest is severely disabled. I red flagged him for ASD at 23 months and he went straight on the waiting lists for assessment and his subsequent diagnosis, don't be afraid to push hard for referrals!

The NAS has some great literature and advice on how to prepare her for routine changes and dealing with sensory issues if you haven't already looked it up

The gorgeous kids with ASD I know as toddlers had a mix of sensory issues (hating lumps), struggling with changes in routine, transitions and being fixated on certain things like repeatedly doing things (way beyond peers). So for example one kiddie scratched my DS's face repeatedly for one year. Bog standard discipline like time out didn't work but a long break did to resolve this. Some have been incredibly bright but often SATS scores havent reflect thier CATS scores sadly.

My DD wasnt anything like that..very easy going but little interaction and liked to spin in circles. Strangely now at 8 she is very interactive

Alternatively she might be just incredibly sensitive to physical and emotional stuff. Highly sensitive children often struggle with smells, the feel of clothes, food and often find new situations overwhelming and over stimulating. They tend to observe a lot and hold back before joining. The key difference between a child whose highly sensitive and a child with ASD is that sensitive children are particularly gifted at reading emotions and naturally put themselves in other people shoes

Bypass the hv and push gp for a referral, op. Unfortunately with Lang delay people often get fobbed off till their child is 3, which then means only going on a lengthy waiting list at three rather than being assessed

A highly sensitive child wouldn't have any language delay either, and afaik highly sensitive is not an official diagnosis, as opposed to sensory processing disorder or autism

OK OP, there's enough on your latest update to worry me. Go to the GP - ignore the HV - and start pushing for a referral. You want to see a developmental peadeatrician (you'd think I'd know how to spell that word by now!) who may diagnose after observations/assessments, or who may refer further to a specialist clinic/pead.

Tbf, in my area the entire referral process is taking a full year so it's unlikely she'll be seen till she's 3 anyway... That's why there is absolutely NO POINT in waiting till she's 3 to start the process.

Also start a diary - putting together enough evidence to back up your request for a referral, and if necessary take someone else into the GP appt. Do not be fobbed off with a 'wait and see' approach.

It's the same in my area too Wilson, it took 11 months for ds1 to be assessed and diagnosed and 12 months for ds2, in his case the experts agreed with us when he was 2.2 years old that they were 99.9% sure but of course the waiting lists took an age to make it official.

Wilson's right OP, waiting is pointless and wastes a lot of time, we made lots of little video clips to show the boy's assessors during the months we were on the waiting lists, of them hand flapping and spinning, lining and stacking food etc, meltdowns, any evidence like that all helps to show the bigger picture.

It was our little home videos that helped the pysch's diagnose ds1's Tourettes as co-morbid to his ASD, so parental input really is important.

Yep, we're waiting for a re-diagnosis (long story!), saw the GP in March, Community Pead in June, now on 7 month waiting list for Communication Clinic so reckon that will be March 2015 earliest.

Took them 2 months to exchange the fricking correspondence to get him on the Comms Clinic waiting list - our dearly beloved NHS doesn't do email - and we aren't able to 'skip' any of the steps even though he already has a dx of Social Communication Disorder.

Christ it's horrendous isn't it?

At the very end of ds2's assessments we were fortunate, we had a good relationship with the clinical psych and she called us in and discussed his results with us verbally, it actually took another month after that for his official diagnostic report to be typed up by admin

I hope the clinic speed things up once you actually get there, I know how hard the waiting is on the whole family, especially when you're having to go through it all for a second time

Thanks Glistens it's only really because school think it's better if he has a 'stronger' dx that we're going through it at all, so it's not too emotional. I'm pretty sure he is on the spectrum, school agree and think if that's written down he'll get more help - so nothing like as emotionally draining as the first time round. Except school are now stalling a bit with the support he does need...

I'd also recommend keeping a diary, or some ABC charts (google). They will show the problematic behaviour you face in a very precise manner for the dr to look at. Best of luck with pushing for a diagnosis, you know your child best.

My ds has asd, is 11, in secondary school and doesn't shut up!
At 2-3, he had very few words, however it just happened all of a sudden.

The borough where I live refuse to diagnose aspergers ( diagnosed Nov 2011 aged 8) but I know my son has it, they choose to use asd to describe such a vast spectrum.

My nephew is 2.5 and has recently been seen by an asd specialist as db and sil were so concerned but it was about much more than speech.
Dn won't acknowledge his name, very little eye contact, plays alone, flaps his hands, the list is endless.

I know it must be hard, I've been there, please go and speak to your GP, you don't have to wait.

There is so much help and support our there, your ds May only have speech issues, it's very common but I can totally understand your concerns, good luck.

Sorry, your dd.

I think it is reasonable for posters to have pointed out that there is a big range of behaviour of all sorts within the toddler years and many things that seem outside the 'normal' range will correct back within 'normal' range over time or remain but in a context of otherwise unremarkable behaviour. The problem is you don't know when a child is 18 months or 2 which way that's going to go and whilst parents should access referrals if they think it's needed, equally if a parent wishes to adopt a policy of watch and wait for a few more months then I think that's a valid approach. Obviously if they have significant concerns it isn't helping their child to delay referral and it sounds like the OP does have significant concerns so referral is probably the right route for her family but it does bother me a bit on threads like this when there is a lot of very directive advice offered on very little evidence given.

But the point is that there are concerns to warrant a push for referral on this particular thread. The OP was advised to wait until their child was 3, and in my experience of referral and assessment times, it's a senseless wait when action could be taken now, in the child's formative years.

There's many a thread where I've bitten my tongue because it isn't clear that referrals or assessments are appropriate, but I don't think it's unreasonable to offer direct advice when the OP is concerned and listing multiple issues that warrant investigation sooner rather than later.

Wilson it's great that you have the school on side, and yes, I'd have to agree that a strongly worded diagnostic report that's very clear does have an impact on the levels of support offered, or that's certainly been my experience with my boys

For everyone who has slated me my ds1 has been under specialist since 2 for ads and I have other children with similar issues. Lots of two year olds do have asd tendencies - read the literature - so unless the case is on the severe end of the spectrum they will not give a firm diagnosis until 3/4 - preschool age.

Chronically probably put across more eloquently what I was trying to say. That delays can happen but it's doesn't automatically mean there is a problem, children can change. Ds1 was monitored until he was 4 which they then decided that enough evidence was present for a diagnosis as they can change so much. A good route IMO is to go through speech therapy as I found with ds2 they identified where his auditory impairment is and ruled out asd.

That might be your experience Purplepoodle but you are wrong to suggest that Autism can not or will not be diagnosed before the age of 3/4 unless it is severe. Also the earlier the diagnosis the better so IMO anyone with a toddler who has concerns should always always investigate further.

I am not a big fan of the wait and see approach. Of course many individual traits associated with autism are often seen in small children but if you are seeing several behaviours that concern you then I would not dismiss it.

Noone on an internet forum can or should diagnose, I have no idea if your child has ASD OP but I would certainly be chasing up health professional about your worries.

Please don't wait and see. Ds1 was diagnosed with asd before age 2, despite 2 health visitors and 3 GPs telling me he was fine. I trusted my gut and pushed and pushed for a referral to a community paed. Luckily for us we only had to wait a few weeks for an appt.

The help (or lack thereof) we were offered at that point is a whole other story! All I will say is that many if not most SALTs know very little about how to work with children with asd. With autism it's often not about the mechanics of speaking (as with a child who has a lisp)!but about the motivation to speak and communicate, and you really need someone trained in behavioural techniques in order to have any chance of success

Totally agree with you vera, we have been seeing a private SALT for 3 years. She is fantastic and initially spent most of her time working on attention and listening skills and knew how to motivate ds. She has also been a gold mine of techniques and advice for helping ds to read since he started school.

as for the NHS speech therapist

We don't have salt where I live so this is unknown to me, not in England - diff part of uk. Our speech therapists are very good and there's an umbrella approach - I know some are rubbish, same as Hv and gp's. It varies so much from area to area.

My Hv was invaluable for getting the right referrals as was my gp.

Trust your mummy gut.

Doh just realised salt is speech and language. Ours are based in the childrens asd umbrella unit so probably more experience. From reading guessing this isn't the same for everyone else. Pushing your gp and Hv prob the way to go from other peoples experiences

You will HAVE to wait and see given current waiting lists on almost all health authorities are a year. So the question really is do you want to wait and see now or wait and see in a year? You can always withdraw from the process if things stat to correct themself.

So my advice to not accept 'waiting and seeing' is always, always based on pragmatism, unfortunately.