Does this sound like my son is autistic? 19 months old! Help please.

[momof3boys5]

My son is 19 months old. He says around 10 words right now, but he does babble all day long. I’m slightly concerned at the lack of speech but he’s my first born so unsure how speech develops in this age, but by what I’ve read it seems ok to have around 10 words right now. I’ve been on the Mchat screening for autism as I’ve seen a few people recommend it and after answering all the questions he scored a 0 which is the lowest risk. He points to show me things, to what he wants, he gives me eye contact, he’s affectionate, he’ll role play answering a phone, or he’ll watch me hoover and grab his little hoover and clean to. He’s smily, expressive. Loves other children.

⁃	Lays on the floor sometimes to push cars around. I’ve read somewhere this can mean autism? Something about the way a child views a toy. He only does this occasionally. But will move onto his front and says brum as he pushes them.
⁃	Last few days he randomly walks on his tip toes, happens for about 5 seconds and then he won’t do it again. He’s never done it before? Don’t know why he’s doing it now all of a sudden. He’s been walking since 11 months. 
⁃	Has started to line things up. Is this a schema that all children go through, or is lining things up a link to autism? He lines his  cars and dinosaurs up the most.
⁃	At nursery he will join in with the other kids but plays along side the other children/alone a lot of the time, but apparently children his age play along side each other. He only goes 1 day a week, so it’s still all new for him. He was 6 months old when lockdown began so didn’t have a lot of socialising and he’s almost 2 now, he does brilliantly with how little he was able to socialise with other children. 

Is he just a toddler being a toddler or is it something I should be concerned about? Members of my family keep making comments and it makes me so anxious. Advice please, feeling super worried and just need some advice.

I think it's difficult to tell at this age. unless there's something glaringly obvious like a regression in skills. With mine I was first became concerned about them around age 2 (DS) and age 4 (DD).
I would agree with the person who says to make a note of any concerns - they may be useful in future if you ever need them. But put them away somewhere, and revisit later if you're still worrried.

My son did all of those things, early Walker, observer of life, thinker, liner up of cars...and it wasn't or isn't autism.
Son is now 12 and top of his year at school and obsessed with sport. Lining up cars was his specialist subject at age 1.

I'm usually one of the first to suggest autism but this isn't one of those occasions. Lining things up at that age is entirely ordinary behaviour, My son had scores of cars and would line them all up. He started speaking at 12 months and could speak in sentences at 16 months, but didn't bother walking until 14 1/2 months. He was obsessed with trains. Obsessions with Thomas the Tank Engine. Then Harry Potter. Then Pokemon. Volcanoes. Flags. It only becomes an issue if they get 'stuck' in an obsession and don't move on. Anyway, if he does have ASD, it's really not the end of the world!

OP, autism is a social and communication disorder- tip toe walking and lining things up are some stereo typical indicators, but not in and of themselves markers of autism. All children will tip toe walk for a bit- they're enjoying exploring a new sensation. My autistic DD at nearly 6 still does. It is almost impossible to diagnose at age 2 precisely because it is a communication disorder which is very hard to definitively pin down while their communication is still so nebulous. What you're referring to are commonly associated sensory issues which are part of an autistic child's proprioceptive sense being different from someone who is NT. This is also why they typically love swings or bouncing, because they enjoy that sensation of movement. That said, at the age of two all children love swings and bouncing and lining crap up. Honestly you're confusing normal developmental steps with autism.

Don't worry about it for now. If autism runs in your family then it is what it is. There is literally nothing to be done, so enjoy your baby who from the descriptors sounds perfectly fine. As PP have said, if he does have ASD it really isn't the end of the world. It's sad to think of the difficulty the world will pose, but many people have gone through that and emerged and flourished and lived good, meaningful and happy lives.

Hi sorry to jump on this thread.
Just also looking for advice. My son is 3 years old. He only says a few single words, yes,no and some animals sounds. He is in speech therapy. I think he has traits of autism but his SLTs are not concerned atall. They said speech delays are very common and often misdiagnosed as autism. That 1in 10 boys gave a delay.

Autism traits my son has.

1. Lines things up. 2. Flexes his fingers in a weird way. 3. Isn’t sociable with other children unless he knows them. (Could be covid related?) 4. Delayed speech. 5.loves sensory play 6. Doesn’t wave but gives high 5s. (But can’t now due to covid 😩) 7. Very stubborn.

Other things he does that make me think his is not Autistic.

1. Drives his play cars around the house. 2. Puts a dodie in his sisters mouth and brings her a bottle. 3. Looks for my reaction when things happen. 4. Is getting on really well in playschool and smiles to the teachers. 5. Can do jigsaws, build things and is physically really strong for his age. 6. Very affectionate with people he knows (hugs, kisses etc) 7. Gets over being told no easily.

It’s so stressful because all my friends kids are speaking in full sentences and are also sending videos to a what’s app group of their kids.

He's too young OP.
Also you seem pretty freaked out by the idea of having an autistic child. I've got two autistic teens - it's fine. They are fine.

Sounds like a completely bog standard toddler, honestly

@Mayabay

Hi sorry to jump on this thread. Just also looking for advice. My son is 3 years old. He only says a few single words, yes,no and some animals sounds. He is in speech therapy. I think he has traits of autism but his SLTs are not concerned atall. They said speech delays are very common and often misdiagnosed as autism. That 1in 10 boys gave a delay.

Autism traits my son has.

1. Lines things up. 2. Flexes his fingers in a weird way. 3. Isn’t sociable with other children unless he knows them. (Could be covid related?) 4. Delayed speech. 5.loves sensory play 6. Doesn’t wave but gives high 5s. (But can’t now due to covid 😩) 7. Very stubborn.

Other things he does that make me think his is not Autistic.

1. Drives his play cars around the house. 2. Puts a dodie in his sisters mouth and brings her a bottle. 3. Looks for my reaction when things happen. 4. Is getting on really well in playschool and smiles to the teachers. 5. Can do jigsaws, build things and is physically really strong for his age. 6. Very affectionate with people he knows (hugs, kisses etc) 7. Gets over being told no easily.

It’s so stressful because all my friends kids are speaking in full sentences and are also sending videos to a what’s app group of their kids.

SLTs are extremely experienced at spotting signs of autism - they're very often the first people who do. So if your SLT isn't worried I don't think you need to worry.

People worry a lot about little boys lining up their cars. But think about it - what do cars do? They line up on the roads, they queue, they park beside each other in car parks. All these parents panicking and their kids are just parking their hot wheels!

His 19 months give him a chance. My youngest was 2 and a half. The only words he said at that age was mum and milk. He is Autistic. Different children speak at different times. Talk to your HV if you have concerns.

Another coming on to say don’t worry. I walked on my tiptoes all the time until I was about 25 and i still do sometimes. I also W sit (still my natural default way of sitting in my late 40s), I spent a large amount of time as a young child lining up toys and sorting Lego into shapes and colours and getting extremely upset if someone messed them up or mixed the colours in plasticine or coloured outside of the lines etc. I’m also not very demonstrative or affectionate and I’m very rules focussed.

All could have been seen as signs by my parents. I’m not autistic though. Fortunately in the 70s there wasn’t as much information readily accessible otherwise I suspect my mother would have been worrying.

Only thing Id keep an eye on would be speech and flag at 2 year review.

Even if your DC is autistic its just who they are

Some autistic children do all of those things, some autistic children do none of those things.

There’s no hard and fast yes/no tick boxes for autism.

None of that suggests autism to me and I have a child on the spectrum.

Everything sounds normal and fine. Speech seems fine. It's totally normal for a child your sons age not to play with children. Kids don't really play with children until 4/5 or later. Playing alongside is very normal and expected.
I don't think any 19 months would know or want to play with another child.

Pushing the car sounds normal. Autism can be say when a child has a toy car but instead of pushing it around saying brum brum they will spin the wheels around or play with it in a non typical way.

I wouldn't worry about him lining stuff up. Ds is autistic and never lined things up like people thought he would as a 'stereotypical' asd thing. However, Dd who is not on the spectrum lined things up all the time.

He's a toddler! Don't worry

My DH and DS both toe walk all the time if not wearing shoes. Neither is autistic.

What are his words?
That’s quite key. If they have a social use e.g. mummy this is not a red flag.

I work at a nursery and have never seen a case of ASD diagnosed before 2 that wasn’t either because the child was non-verbal or because of family history. I’m not saying he doesn’t have ASD, he may well do, but at this age he won’t be diagnosed until he experiences some really obvious signs of SEN related problems. The best thing you can do is keep a diary over the next few years to log your observations.
I also should point out that hyperlexia (the ability to read and recognise letters) before 1.5-2 can be a really strong indicator of ASD. Much stronger than other signs.

@Mayabay I’d say speech therapist aren’t always that great. Luck of the draw. But in a way, what matters isn’t a big overarching diagnosis that nowadays is so broad it’s almost meaningless. What matters is that your child’s speech delay is helped and addressed - you need a good assessment and practical action - and I’d also say you need a good OT if he’s sitting in w’s etc. Get him in playgrounds and get some good OT sensory and physical play stuff for the house, don’t let him sit in a W.

I have two boys on the spectrum and none of that suggests ASD to me at that age.

Autistic person here, with an autistic child.
This just sounds like toddler behaviour not specifically autistic behaviour.

Of course it doesn’t sound like your son has autism.

There are many parents truly worried about this.

Think.

I've been an obsessive liner-upper all my life and I'm very much neurotypical!

Hi thanks for all your replies!
Didn’t mean to sound like there was anything wrong with autism. Kids are who they are! Just trying to join dots together as to what is going on!

My little fella is 3 years 3 months so that’s why I’m very worried about his speech. He will get a speech assessment in March.

It’s good to know that SLTs are trained to spot signs of different things. They offer good and helpful advice. We are just not seeing lots of progress in the area of speech.

Hi main words are ya/yes and nah/no
Then some animals sounds when we are reading a book or responding ya to a question.
He understands more than he can say.
But find it really difficult to follow basics instructions

Stop reading articles about autism. There are hundreds of things that an autistic person might do as habits as they develop, but then being also humans then those with autism will do a lot of human things .