15 month old- normal behaviour or possible AS?

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DS is 15 months and a delight, and in most ways seems to be developing normally i.e. can says several words, understands lots, enjoys playing, swimming, cuddles, eats well, just started toddling etc.

However, even since he was several months old I have been slightly concerned about two things- his sensitivity to noise and an obsession with anything that spins.

With the spinning thing he can't get enough of a toy that spins/he can spin, or a fan (will watch for quite a while), more so i've noticed than other babies/toddlers. He loves playing with all sorts of other toys, but seems to have a compulsion to spin stuff! Not sure if this is normal or not?

With the noise thing, i'm concerned as his sensitivity doesn't seem to be improving, but I don't want to jump to conclusions in case it's just an age thing. He will get hysterical if the hoover/blender/hairdryer is turned on, someone sneezes, an animal makes a loud noise (although loves animals usually), even when we're at toddler group and 'row row your boat' is sung he's the only little one that sobs at the bit when everyone screams about the crocodile/roars like a lion. He's ok with busy places, playing at toddlers groups/soft play and doesn't seem to get anxious at all.

I took him to see the hv a couple of weeks ago about the noise sensitivity but she didn't seem worried as he has great eye contact and lots of chatter. I guess i'm just a little concerned as I know that the above are markers for AS.

Anyone had experience of the above and their DC has either outgrown them, or if anyone's DC was later diagnosed with AS? I know there are lots of other aspects/markers to AS but i've just had a feeling in my gut for several months now about the above things. Obviously feel free to correct me about the above if they're nothing to do with AS, my knowledge is fairly limited (hence why I may be barking up the wrong tree!).

Hi,
My dd has AS (she's now 8 and was diagnosed at the age of 4 even though we knew from very early on).

At the age of 15 months she was very verbal (could talk like a 7 year old), had many phobias, was very sensitive to sound (would cry if a plane flew over or someone started a lawn mower), she would wake 4-5 times in the night, was very fussy with food (gagged on lumps), loved routine, lined up toys and cried a lot about small things (was very sensitive).

I think at 15 months its hard to tell with those traits as a lot of children like spinning toys and a lot of children are sensitive to loud sounds. We did not get referred to a pead until dd1 was 2.5 (even though i had taken her to the gp several times), her sister (dd2) was referred at 2 and later diagnossed with ASD (at the age of 3).

I would try not to worry too much unless there are other traits such as the ones i listed above, see how the next 6 months go but if you notice other things or the sound sensitivity gets worse then you could push for referral.

You can't tell for sure at this age - you might want to look up some information on schemas (ways of behaving/experiencing the world) as there's a 'rotation' schema. Essentially just a fascination with round/rotating objects. If your DS has good social skills (which it sounds like he has) then you may be overthinking the other things. My dd was very upset by loud noises at that age - in fact it's taken her till age nearly-3 to really become accustomed to the hairdryer/lawnmower/blender etc but she's fine.

Thanks Marne. He's always been 'high maintenance'- never used to sleep through, hardly slept at all during the day, screamed a lot, but has gotten much better since about 8 months old when he started crawling as I think he was quite a frustrated smaller baby. He's fine with food though, and will eat pretty much anything. I will keep an eye on things. DP thinks i'm being neurotic but he doesn't spend as much time with him as I do.

I think I find the whole AS/Autism thing confusing as lack of eye contact and lack of chat is often sighted as a big indicator, but on the other hand i've heard people say the opposite, that their DC was actually very verbal from a young age.

He's got great social skills Octavia and will actively want people to play with him by bringing toys to them, even if he doesn't know them, and seems to enjoy others company. Maybe I am over-thinking things... I just didn't think that a baby could like things that spin THAT much!

15m olds are often obsessive & over-sensitive about many things. Entirely normal. I don't think it means anything (yet).

You could try finding a toy that's got cogs in it - he may be fascinated by a rotating thing connecting to another rotating thing and both of them spinning!

God he would love a toy like that!

There's a company that makes put-the-clock-together-yourself kits - I can't remember exactly what they're called - the amazing puzzle company or something. He wouldn't get the clock bit but watching the cogs whizz round once you've made it is pretty cool.

My DS was very sensitive to noise as a baby / young toddler. He is pretty much fine now (almost 4) - other than that he'll still ask me not to use the hand driers in public toilets! He also liked spinny things a lot from aged about 1 - 3 (I think the peak of his interest was aged 1-2, gradually decreasing over the next year). Fans, clocks, windmills, wind turbines were all of great interest (although he didn't sit and spin things really, he just pointed out spinny things and talked about them all the time). I am fairly sure he is NT though, he seems to have grown out of these things, no longer shrieks with excitement when he sees a wind turbine. At 15 months I wouldn't read too much into these things alone.

My DS was a spinner until quite recently. Loved and adored anything that he could rotate- I also had thoughts about whether it was a bit too much.

He is 20 months now though and it has really abated. Tractors and trains have taken over. My DS also has some sensory issues. He won't wear anything scratchy or anything tight round his wrists and he looks to me like he's developing sock problems as he keeps pulling at the seams or just taking them off. He's also a rubbish sleeper!

I don't think for a minute he's ASD though (and I know quite a bit about it through work)- just sensitive.

I'd just go with your DS's interests. I think it will be pretty apparent if it becomes ritual type behaviour (starts to exclude other interests/ he becomes very distressed when prevented from doing it etc). You may have to accomodate sensory issues if they start causing problems in the future. I think it's early to tell though. Just keep an eye on how he's coping with different situations.

My DD1 hated hoovers, hand dryers any sudden loud noises. She is also very skin sensitive - won't wear anything uncomfortable. She is now 5 and completely NT. I never really worried about her.

Step away from the internet and play with you gorgeous one. Please don't worry too much - noise sensitivity is massively common - have you heard how loud those hand dryers are nowadays?

My DD used to get hysterical over hand-dryers and would work herself into a frenzy of terror if the phone rang. I got so used to it that for years I dried my hands on my jeans for the sake of my DS until I realised he couldn't care less!

My DD is now 5 and fully over this problem. She has absolutely no AS markers and is definitely completely NT. But at the time (about 18mo to 3.5) people did raise eyebrows and wonder if there was an underlying prob.

Thanks all for reassurance re noise sensitivity, I guess I can see that lots of things are very loud and scary for a little one.

Still a bit worried about obsession with spinning and rotating things- DS will have a meltdown if you don't lift him up to turn on the switch to fan on PIL lounge light, although wonder if this is now habit more than anything as FIL has used the bloody fan since he was tiny as a distraction technique if DS was getting the hump also DS LOVES the washing machine and will watch for ages, although perhaps less bothered now than he used to be. Hope he outgrows it soon so I don't continue to worry!

DS1 now aged 4.5 was very like this at a similar age - though probably less sociable. He didn't do the spinning, but with him it was obsessively lining toys up. He was also hyper-unsettled as a baby, issues with gagging, extreme anxiety over various things. At this stage we're still on the border line of seeking referral for ASD, but just in the last couple of months I'm beginning to think maybe not. He certainly has quite a few of the traits of ASD, but there are also some very significant ones he doesn't have, and his 'issues' are generally improving with time. I would agree with others that it's too young to tell; you may have a child who's a little bit hyper-sensitive and anxious, but that's not necessarily the same as having ASD. My advice would be to just enjoy him, wait it out for now, and above all accept him as he is. That's not meant to be patronising - I know only too well that when you've got a child with 'issues', it's terribly difficult to resist looking for a 'fix', or at least an explanation.