Thinking 13 month old has regressive autism

[ButtonsMama19]

Hi please help.

My 13 month old boy has shown signs of speech regression, and other worrying signs.

He said mama at 9 months... continued with it to 12 months but no other words, a bit of bababa and wawawa but nothing else. Over the last few weeks he’s stopped saying mama and gone back to shrieking and blowing raspberry’s, it’s like he’s 8 months again. He’s also stopped waving. He only did this for a short time but it’s stopped altogether. He has never pointed. He does clap in response to me clapping and when he sees someone he’s happy to see, and sometimes when I say ‘good boy’. There’s no other gestures like nodding head etc.
I was worried about him having no development in language but now he’s gone backwards.

He never responds to his name but I don’t know if that’s new or not, I never really noticed.
He does look round when he hears music from his tv show he likes, or if I say ‘no’ he stops and sometimes looks. So I don’t think it’s hearing.

He initiates peekaboo and chase me - crawling. He can not walk yet.

He pulls books anc toys from a shelf to play alone, if I join him he will interact, sit on my lap, but he won’t bring things to me himself.

He does do some imitation play. He has a kitchen and likes it if he puts a cup to my mouth and I pretend to drink.

He eats and sleeps very well.

HV came out today and although has made pead referral and said he’s not hitting target and has developmental delays but basically seemed to dismiss the regression side of it as he only lost 1 word.... but that was 100% of his speech!

I feel like it’s massive red flags for autism and she’s dismissed that as ‘far too soon’.

I feel really stuck. He doesn’t babble only shreik to get responses now and I spend hours each day babbling and talking to him and get nothing repeated. But if I blow a raspberry he does it straight back.

Eye contact is fairly good. He smiles if I do something funny, but not just if I smile at him anymore (he did at 6-9 months)

Please please reply and help me my head is spinning.

(For info, no history of asd, English only speaking household. )

I think you’re right to be concerned and it’s good that the hv has made a paed referral.

My autistic son stopped waving (he never had any speech) but when I spoke to my hv about my concerns she fobbed me off because he had good eye contact. 😳

Could it be to do with his hearing?

Our ds was similar but it turned out he had glue ear and couldn't hear much at all. He found it hard to communicate for a long time.

He responds well to other normal level noises, such as the start of his fave tv show and if I say ‘no’

My 13 month old screams a piercing scream to get our attention quite often. It’s blood curdling 😄 I put it down to living in a loud, busy household. He does babble, and he says dada, but not in context. He can’t wave yet, or walk. He cruises, smiles and laughs. He’s my 4th baby, and I am not concerned at all, and nothing you’ve written about your baby would concern me either. Development is not linear, it loops and circles and goes back and forth.

development is not linear

This. 13m is too young. When saying mama at 9m it's not always purposeful and specific it's just one of the earliest & easiest sounds to say. Often they "drop" a skill for a bit when working on another. My daughter did exactly the same, then walking clicked, now she's suddenly come out with about 8 much more clear specific words at 14.5m corrected.

At 13m I would not really expect to see a lot of the skills you mention being displayed consistently, like pretend play etc.

Be warned I've always found things like American websites and the wonder weeks app list babies as demonstrating skills WAY earlier than they do.

I've never met anyone who's 13m old nods their head for yes, or engages in regular pretend play, lots don't respond consistently to their name, especially if they dont want

Trust your instinct and keep watching him - however it is still early. He’s likely to get more purposeful words from 18mths. Even some two yo can have little speech. He’s in the normal range for walking - is he cruising?

If you do feel you need more support and you can afford it a good nursery should be able to help monitor his development and refer appropriately if they feel his development is delayed.

@ButtonsMama19
13 months is way to young to even consider an ASD diagnosis.
If anything a pediatrician may diagnosis a speach delay but you wouldn't be seen by a speach and language therapist until your dc is 2-3 years. They will also assess whether dc has any sort of global delay but again other than a hearing test there is very little they can do at your dc age.
Please don't worry yourself about ASD as most of what you are describing is within normal range if on the slightly later side and the referral is most likely to check hearing and reassure you.
Honestly the sort of speach regression that can (not always) come with ASD is something that happens after some language skills are established (unfortunately 1 word does not fall into this category even if it was there only word) again usually after age 2.
I know you are worried and hearing someone dismissing your concerns is hard but all you can do is watchful waiting and put it to the back of your mind.
If your dc has ASD it is a long pathway to a diagnosis and takes years but won't start before 3-4 years normally (some arrears are faster and others slower).
Really just try to enjoy your dc and leave tomorrows worries for tomorrow

Honestly, I’ve just reread your op and I can’t see anything concerning there. They often pick up/put down skills at that age and shift attention to something else. The ‘mama’ at 9 months was babbling rather than a purposeful word.

I don’t claim to know much about it, but anyone I know whose child experienced regressive autism, it was a dramatic loss of skills. What you’re describing sounds like losing interest in one thing to do something new, then returning to it. Which is very common.

In any event he’s only 13 months. Far too young for any firm diagnosis.

I think someone above said development is not linear, which is true. Hes too young to say whether this is a sign of autism.

However, I want to say please do not worry. One of my dc is autistic and he didn't talk until he was over 3. We thought he was never going to, he never shuts up now. Anyway DS1 is a lovely, kind, wonderful little boy and we wouldn't be without him. If your son does have autism, it isn't the tragedy you may be worrying about.

Just enjoy your lovely little boy, and if you are still concerned at 2, raise it again

A referal has been put into place which is great.

For now I would say enjoy your son, don’t compare to others or what textbooks say he should be doing. Enjoy him for who he is and what he is doing. Carry on talking to him and engaging him like you do and try not to worry

What you've described doesn't sound concerning to me. My eldest babbled at around 8 months, then stopped completely when he was 12 months. The only sound he would utter was "ooo" which he used for absolutely everything. He didn't start talking until he was around 26 months old, he was assessed by a paediatrician and diagnosed with speech delay. He then suddenly started talking and rapidly caught up with his peers. He is 6 now and absolutely neurotypical in every aspect.
I understand your worries, but I would give it a bit more time. As a PP said, development isn't linear, some achievements may be lost for a while and then reappear.

13 months is still very young and even if it is autism, you won't get an assessment at this age. Speech and language don't usually step in until age 2 either. I think your expectations are a bit high tbh, definitely keep an eye on the speech but the other things you've mentioned aren't massively concerning at this age.

Keep a note of any concerns, write down dates when you notice anything that changes. It'll be handy if you do get referred for assessment in the future.

I had some mild concerns about my DS at this age and found they became more obvious around 18 months. I was fully convinced by the time he was 2 that he had autism. He was diagnosed with asperger's when he was 3 and a half.

Just enjoy your DS for now. Keep note of your concerns and any development changes and seek a referral when he's around 2 if you're still concerned.

13 months is way too young for a diagnosis. Nothing in your description sounds concerning. It is very common for babies to focus on a skill such as a new word and then once mastered forget about it for a bit, while they then master another skill. My 2 year old has amazing speech now but often went though 'quiet' periods where I felt like she had stopped talking but in retrospect she was often obsessed with climbing stairs or jumping etc and then would then start focusing on words again. Try not to focus too much on the specific development milestones as every child is different and it sounds like your child is meeting them fine.

I think your DS is too young for any of these things to indicate autism. I am surprised that your HV referred him tbh, but the referral will be based your responses to her questions, so if you have concerns that will be reflected in the outcome.

All you can do is wait and see, but try not to obsess about the issue - almost anything can be interpreted as a sign of autism if you refer to the internet enough!

Autism mum here, mother to autistic kid and on the spectrum myself.

13 months is not to young to see flags for autism. There were several when my DC was this age.

• not responding to name being called
• not following a point
• zero interest in other children
• no speech in context (said Dada only)
• sensory seeking behaviour (throwing them self around, seeking deep pressure input)
• obsessive interest in 'odd' things - shoelaces, a plastic taco toy, locks

I could go on.

What I will say OP is that it's great HV is on board with your child's developmental delay, as ours was absolutely shit. The earlier you spot these things the easier it is to obtain support. They probably won't diagnose but I do know several children that have been diagnosed at 2, so don't listen to people telling you it's too early.

If your child is autistic they will still delight you. They will still achieve and confound you: You will love them fiercely.

I had similar feelings around that age about many of the things youve noted but everyone said he was far too young.

And they were right, he picked up these things between 13 and 16 months. He will often drop a skill while working on another and then itll pop back up a few months later.

Many of the things you describe seem perfectly normal to me but then again I'm no expert. Sharing an interest in toys, pointing, walking were all the same for my DS at that age and he'd nailed them all by 16 months. Everything else sounds v similar.

One thing I did was enrol DS in nursery so that experienced staff had an eye on his development (with lockdown I think it was hard for me to know what was normal as we had no exposure to similar age babies).

I understand many of you wish to make the OP feel less worried, as if you searched back 5 years you would see similar posts from me and hundreds of people telling me that my DC would grow out of their delays and be fine.

That wasn't helpful to me at all.

Listening to OP's concerns and not writing them off is so so important.

Their child might grow out of their delays and that would be great for all involved. But they might not.

Psychologist here

13 months is not too young to see signs of autism. The signs at this age are not good predictors, as many kids who show these behaviours at 13 months turn out not to have ASD as do have ASD. You can tell who does not have autism at 13 months, but not those who will go on to receive a diagnosis. The good news is there are things you can do because you've noticed really early.

Find out what he loves and build games around it. Make eye contact and joint attention part of the game. Celebrate eye contact, joint attention, and pointing,. Consider teaching baby sign (makaton) to help with communication. Don't let him sit and stim in the corner for long periods of time, be in there and interact.

Google early start denver model. Somewhere there is a lovely video of Sally Rogers explaining that typically developing kids between 1-2 are social and demanding, so parents have no choice but to interact with them in all waking hours. Kids with ASD often don't ask for as much, so miss out on learning opportunities around social and play skills.

Make sure all these interactions are fun. You should both be happy (even if you are a little bored, because all 13 month olds are a bit boring).

@RudbeckiaGoldstrum

Psychologist here

13 months is not too young to see signs of autism. The signs at this age are not good predictors, as many kids who show these behaviours at 13 months turn out not to have ASD as do have ASD. You can tell who does not have autism at 13 months, but not those who will go on to receive a diagnosis. The good news is there are things you can do because you've noticed really early.

Find out what he loves and build games around it. Make eye contact and joint attention part of the game. Celebrate eye contact, joint attention, and pointing,. Consider teaching baby sign (makaton) to help with communication. Don't let him sit and stim in the corner for long periods of time, be in there and interact.

Google early start denver model. Somewhere there is a lovely video of Sally Rogers explaining that typically developing kids between 1-2 are social and demanding, so parents have no choice but to interact with them in all waking hours. Kids with ASD often don't ask for as much, so miss out on learning opportunities around social and play skills.

Make sure all these interactions are fun. You should both be happy (even if you are a little bored, because all 13 month olds are a bit boring).

Sensible advice.

And joining them in their interests and play is so important. If they are fascinated by the wheels on a car grab a car and pretend to be fascinated too.

Don't force them to talk eg 'Say Mummy!' If your child is autistic this tactic will not work, ever.

Just concentrate on being present with them and sharing their interests.

I would suggest a proper hearing test with an ENT specialist as soon as you can. It could easily be glue ear even if he responds to some sounds.

Hi op I replied to your comment on the other thread,13 months is very young ,but if there is something it will become more apparent over the next 6-12 months IME ,the problem with these threads is that people are always keen to tell you that they no someone with autism who is very intelligent ,at university in a relationship etc etc which is great ,but autism is a huge spectrum on the other side of it there are people like my son who is non verbal and will need care for the rest of his life ,and everything else in between ,he's a lovely child and I love him fiercely but it's hard work sometimes
However the red flags with us were the lack of speech,he did and still does use things as object of references so he would give me a cup for a drink etc and plate for food,he would also take me by the hand to fridge cupboard etc
I would say it's a good sign that your son is copying you and it's also great that your health visitor has referred you to the paediatrician ,who can refer to speech therapy and portage etc.

And OP don't think you won't be delighted by your child if they are autistic, they bring you so much joy. Trust me.

When saying mama at 9m it's not always purposeful and specific it's just one of the earliest & easiest sounds to say. Often they "drop" a skill for a bit when working on another.

My thoughts exactly. So I wouldn’t be worried about “losing” a word when it wasn’t really a purposeful word to start with - it’s just babble. And once they’ve mastered the simple babble sounds they work on others.

My son is autistic and I didn’t have a clue at 13 months. Looking back at that age he was a pretty miserable and frustrated baby. His speech delays didn’t become apparent until later.

I have a lot of experience with autism and have a severely autistic child myself. I knew when my son was 14 months that something was going on. By 18 months I was 100% certain he had autism and he was diagnosed at 3. Reading your post though nothing jumps out as a red flag. Interaction with you is huge. My son has never done that unless he wants something but never just to have fun.

My daughter who is now 14 was very slow reaching all her milestones. She never uttered a sound until she was 35 months old. Rolling, crawling, walking all very delayed. She does have dyslexia but other than that a typical 14 year old.