Very early signs autism? What to do?

[Whitefluffyclouds]

My DS is just about to turn 7 months. I have been worried about his development since he was about 3 months. We took him to a paediatric neurologist when he was 3.5 months and she said he was fine, but I am still very worried that he may be displaying very early signs of autism, or other delay. I do realise that autism would never be diagnosed at this early age, but I have also read a lot about the benefits of early intervention and really feel that I want to do everything I can to help him. I love him so much and don't want to waste these early months while the brain is still growing.

The main areas of concern are:

• He doesn't respond to his name and it can be very difficult to get his attention.
• For a long time, he never looked at me while feeding. He does now look at me sometimes, and does reach up to my face, but has only done this for the last month or so and only does it sometimes.
• For a long time, I felt that he didn't 'recognise' me - eg. if DH got him up in the morning and brought him to me, he wouldn't even smile or look 'pleased' to see me. Now I feel that he does respond to me and DH differently from how he responds to other people (eg. bigger smiles), but I wouldn't say he displays particular affection for me or DH.
• He rolls in an unusual way - not in a corkscrew, but raising his head and using his legs to flip himself over. There is a study which was done in the 90s (Teitelbaum) which indicates that this could be a sign of autism.
• He does not imitate us ever.
• He does not make consonant sounds or babble.
• He is nowhere near sitting up.
• He has always been quite challenging to look after - cries a lot and does not like being put down very much, although he is a lot calmer now than he used to be.

Positives are:

• Sits well in highchair
• Eats solid textured food and finger food very well
• Can self-feed water from a sippy cup
• Smiles in response to us and strangers
• Laughs if we tickle him or do something funny!
• Alert and aware, loves looking around if I take him out in the pushchair
• Sleeps well (7-7 with a dream feed at 10)
• Coos, blows raspberries and makes 'aaaah' sounds

I would love to know what people thought, particularly if you have experience with autism, and also if anyone has any ideas about early intervention? We have an appointment with a doctor (not a consultant) at the community development clinic next week (GP referred us at my request although she said she wasn't worried) but I am guessing the doctor will just say it's too early to tell.

Just read this back and realised it sounds like I'm being very down on my son - I don't mean it like that - he is a great little fellow and I love him very much, I just wanted to make sure I listed all my concerns for the sake of completeness.

I think you're very observant and need an expert to either confirm or deny your suspicions. Good luck

I think he sounds like a normal 7 mo :)

DN is autistic. It was clear something was wrong from quite an early age because she was so quiet (did not cry or make any sounds at all), she never made eye contact and she didn't seem to notice/care if people were around or not. She has quite severe levels of autism though.

The smiling, laughing and recognition are really good, positive signs.

I know it's worrying though. We have been seen by numerous specialists because of DS's behaviour. All have mentioned that although he has some autistic traits (hand flapping, which he seems to have stopped now) he was fine in all other regards (eye contact, responsiveness, ability to immitate and anticipate, engaging in pretend play - he is much older though - 21 months).

DS didn't immitate sounds until he was around 13 months I think? He always gazed into space/closed his eyes during feeds. He could sit up by six months but didn't pull to standing until 19 months. He babbles for England now, but wasn't doing so at 7 months.

Other than the rolling thing (which I have never heard of) nothing strikes me as concerning.

Has his hearing been tested? That could account for it being difficult to get his attention.

I don't think my ds was sitting unsupported at 7 months (maybe with lots of cushions round him). He wasn't clapping or waving and he wasn't making consonant sounds as far as I remember. He wasn't particularly bothered about seeing me either, and started nursery at 7 months without a backward glance

So, nothing you've mentioned seems very unusual to me (I work in Early Years) but obviously there is something that doesn't seem right to you. Have you spoken to the Health Visitor? She'll see a lot of babies so can give you an idea of whether your ds seems unusual to her.

am sure those with experience of ASD will be along to help you shortly, I just wanted to say that I have read that babies often don't seem to be looking directly at you as they haven't realised yet that you are not a 'part' of them, i.e., they think that you and they are the same being and this is why eye contact with you is poor as they are looking past you to look at an object in the same way that you would look past your arm to look at something if you see what I mean. Its also very early to worry about imitating you or babble, but this is just my opinion and of course you should always, always go to your GP if you are worried - sometimes parents instincts are spot on and sometimes we all worry too soon/too much, but theres no right and wrong with this. My DS is 2 and I have a fair few friends with kids the same age and all of our kids have developed completely differently and hit different milestones at differing times and so on, I have no experience with ASD but your DS's development does not sound unusual to me :) best wishes

He's 7 months old.

DS didn't do a lot of the things he should.

You sound quite anxious tbh - is this an isse more widely?

Thank you for your replies. I should have mentioned on the positive side that he does make good eye contact most of the time (once we get his attention) although he does sometimes stare into space as well.

I think it is way to early to tell. DS is ASD & was very different to what you've described. He screamed for hours & hours & hours in the first five months of his life. He was sitting unsupported by 5 months and he was quite smiley, although not at anything in particular. He slept very badly and was hyper sensitive to sounds, smells & light.
Although the child psych noted him as possibly ASD from about 4, the full diagnosis did not come through until he was 7.
Please enjoy your baby, there is nothing you can do at this stage really. You sound very observant & very keen to promote your babies development, so just relax & enjoy his growth and your time with him.

Hello, I don't have experience with autism, however I also had the feeling something was not right with my ds from about 3 months. The GPs and health visitors didn't take my concerns seriously. To shorten a very long story, my instinct was indeed correct.

Follow your gut feeling as a mother. If there is a problem, early intervention is very important. Good luck.

I think you should request a development review with your health visitor. It is clear that you are worried and I think a mother's worries should be taken seriously. Even if there is nothing wrong then you have the right to be reassured.

My son did not follow the baby books and I found a huge cause of anxiety. There is a massive of what is healthy child development and early child development has little relationship to academic intelligence in school children.

I also think you should ask for a hearing test. If your child is assessed for autism then it is essential to rule out hearing problems like glue ear.

your areas of concern...without wanting to completely dismiss you, he's only 7 months, I genuinely think that's very young to be concerned about them.

Yes early intervention is important, but at that age, there's nothing to do that you wouldn't do anyway, playing, interacting, talking, encouraging movement...there's not much more you can do with such a young baby.

At 7 months my DS, sat, crawled, smiled, babbled, gave me eye contact...my nephew didn't, he was a miserable screamy baby who was slow to meet any of his physical milestones and wasn't massively interested in people - my DS has AS, my DN is completely NT.

He's tiny, by all means keep a bit of an eye out if you're concerned, but remember that things like babbling and sitting - the age is an average and some will be later.

Whitefluffyclouds, can I ask what your experience of ASD is?

I only ask as I am a teacher, and spent a few years working with children with autism; this made me hyper-vigilant to any potential 'sign' of ASD in my own DD. If I'm honest, I still am, although much calmer now (she's 3). The thing is, I knew the signs of ASD, but I had no idea of the behaviour of a NT baby/toddler; many of the behaviours are a crossover, and only become red flags when they continue into childhood IYSWIM. It sounds silly, but I had to learn what NT behaviours looked like.

Thanks very much everyone for replying - it does help to hear of others' experiences. I guess I am quite an anxious person, which I do realise is an issue in itself and I am going to try and find a counsellor to help me calm down a bit! However, that said, I am also quite rational and not generally hysterical about health issues.

tethersend - I don't have experience with ASD; in fact, I didn't know much about it until I first became concerned about DS's interaction with us and started googling.

What I am struggling with, I think, is a gut feeling that something is not quite right and a feeling that he is different from other babies. I have read about ABA having positive results and that it's better to start that kind of intervention as soon as possible. Whilst he is obviously too young for ABA, I just feel that I want to be doing something useful for him rather than sitting worrying! I think I would feel awful if he were to get a diagnosis in 18 months and I had done nothing in the meantime.

Whitefluffy, unless your baby is very severely autistic there is no way you will get a diagnosis in 18 months.
Please don't worry too much and let your anxieties put a dampner on the time you have with your DS while he is a baby. All the positive interaction you have with your DS & all the love and care you give him will be the best possible things for him now, regardless of whether he is ASD or not.

Do you socialise with other mums and babies much OP?

Is there a Children's Centre near you?

White, in forward-thinking countries (which the uk is not) dx is around 14 months when the 12 month milestones have been missed.

What you can do to help right now is go to as many baby/toddler groups as you can stomach ti get him used to social settings and so not afraid of other children his age.

It also gives you a baseline to measure your child's develo

Pment against.

OP. I am not going to attempt to tell you whether or not your child has signs of autism or not. I wouldn't have a clue, but a lot of what you write makes sense to me.

I have a DD who is now 3. Like you, I felt from the outset that something wasn't 'right'. She didn't respond to me or to others as other babies did. Never looked pleased to see me, it was very hard to get any kind of response from her.
Going forward she didn't point til quite late and now at 3 is only just putting 2 words together.
However her social skills are now strong. She LOVES people. She is behind her peers still, but she is getting there.

I know there is something delayed with my DD, but I have been told unequivocally that she is not autistic. Someone who knows her well said to me the other day that she didn't really like being a baby did she?

Hang on in there. Try and enjoy your DS for who he is.
I know it can feel heartbreaking, but maybe he is just a slow starter. Still getting warmed up to the world.

I know that the UK is certainly behind a number of other countries in terms of early diagnosis and intervention. Additionally, ABA is a good intervention tool and has better results the earlier that it's started.

On the flip side, of course, your DS is only 7 months, so it's extremely difficult to do very much at the moment, even with the best will in the world. I'd certainly second Gloria's suggestion about socialising as much as you can. Also, as much interaction with him too, from you and others.

I'm in a similar-ish situation in that DSS is autistic and I'm extremely anxious about the possibility of having a child with DH for fear of having an autistic child (I have a NT DD). So, I've done quite a lot of reading on the subject.

I suppose one thing you could potentially do, whilst I'm not sure of how useful it could be, would be to avoid potential, known ASD allergens (wheat, sugar etc) in terms of diet, focusing on those foods that aren't generally associated with intolerance by those with ASD. But, I really don't know if this is or isn't good advice and am happy to be told I'm wrong.

I work with very young children with developmental delays and disabilities.

You DC would not meet the criteria to be referred to my service.

That is not to say I would dismiss your concerns. I never do that. However, with young children, unless there is a severe and distinct problem, you will get told to watch and wait.

This isnt always the fob off it seems. It is genuinelly very difficult and rarely appropriate to diagnose a very young child.

There is a checklist called CHAT <a class="break-all" href="http://www.autism.org.uk/working-with/health/screening-and-diagnosis/checklist-for-autism-in-toddlers-chat.aspxwww.autism.org.uk/working-with/health/screening-and-diagnosis/checklist-for-autism-in-toddlers-chat.aspx" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.autism.org.uk/working-with/health/screening-and-diagnosis/checklist-for-autism-in-toddlers-chat.aspxwww.autism.org.uk/working-with/health/screening-and-diagnosis/checklist-for-autism-in-toddlers-chat.aspx

But that is not used until 18 mths. You may find it helpful to have a look.

Its good you are going to a CDT review but it is very unlikely you will come away feeling 'satisified' (for want of a better word). They will not tell you your child is autistic but no-one can tell you that you child is NOT autistic, only that it is unlikely.

He may have some delays but at 7mths unless they are severe they sound like they are within the normal ranges.

The best thing you can do is to keep an eye on his development and stop googling.

You are right about early intervention but that is something you can do yourself. A stimulating environment, lots of interaction, lots of play - but I suspect you are doing this already.

Again - I wouldnt dream of dismissing your concerns but please try not to worry. See what they say at the CDT review and go from there. I am just a little worried that you have not been reassured by any of the professionals you have seen so far. Have you thought what you will do if the CDT tells you that they think you DS is fine?

Hi Gloria, I am intrigued. Please could you tell me a bit more about diagnosis from 14 months? Most of the books I've read on the subject seem to say how hard it is to diagnose ASD children when they are really little, unless they are very severe. From what I understood, even in the US, a diagnosis is almost unheard of before the age of 3 and then it is only following a fairly lengthy multi-disciplinary & comprehensive diagnostic evaluation.

Post. In the US all children are screened for ASD. Those who probably have it are given a working dx and intervention begins at an average age of 14month. Sadly though this is only for those with insurance.

Some of these children go on to get a full dx later and some do not. The key thing though is that intervention happens regardless and all are treated as if they have ASD. It is unclear whether the ones not fully dx later is because they do not have autism or because the intervention has been effective enough for them not to need any more.

The treatment for Autism in the states is usually play-based ABA. It is efficient and effective and cheap there (unlike the uk) and it is recognised that such interventions save the taxpayer in the longrun even with the number of children that are treated that may later appear to have perhaps not needed it.