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Original poster

Worried about 22 month old sons behaviour

13 replies

Lily86 · 04/09/2012 20:28

Hi my son is 22 months and i have been really concerned about his odd behaviour? He lies down on his side and moves objects infront of his eyes for a few mins these objects are usaully long eg my hoover hose, hairbrush, beaker etc. He does however play with his toys normally and can build bricks, stack rings the correct way, play with toy garage. He dies have limited speech about 13 words and has recently starting linking words together. He also plays with other children really well abd knows basic commands and follows a point etc. i have been worried about autism as he has lack of speech, weird thing he is doing with objects at his eyes. Has anyone elses wee ones done this? Could his strange behaviour be linked to anything else and not autism or maybe just a phase? I am getting so worried about it :( xx

OP posts:
Original poster
Lily86 · 04/09/2012 20:32

Ment to add im sure his eye sight is fine x

OP posts:
onceortwice · 04/09/2012 20:36

OK, this is JUST my experience:

my son (now 4)

  1. Does the whole 'movement' thing you describe (to a T)
  2. He also plays with toys normally
  3. Had very limited speech at 2YO (less than 20 words)
  4. Now has 'within normal range' speech (not brilliant though, but manageable)
  5. Is extremely sociable.
  6. Follows commands (no problems with receptive language)
  7. Follows a point and can point

My son has High functioning autism.

he rarely does 'weird' things with his eyes anymore (but he did at around 2YO) but he does hand flap occasionally and he's learned to get the 'buzz' in other ways (I actually think this is why so many autistic kids love trains, because of the buzz they get from the tracks, it's like 'flapping' across their eyes')

Look, I'm not for a second saying that is what it IS, I am saying the sooner you get it checked out, the sooner you can take the correct steps. The only incorrect step is to do nothing. If it IS autism, then the SOONER you get it diagnosed and start dealing with it, the better.

onceortwice · 04/09/2012 20:37

Feel free to PM if you want.

Original poster
Lily86 · 04/09/2012 20:39

Thanks for reply. Should i see my GP or health visitor who would usaully deal with it. X

OP posts:
onceortwice · 04/09/2012 20:46

Well, I went to see my GP, who dismissed us out of hand.

So, I took DS to our paediatrician (My children were born in the portland, so have a designated paed). He referred us to a child psych. who (after 3 sessions and 2 assessments) was able to give us a diagnosis on which to progress.

We now are within days / weeks of a statement.

It was expensive (around £1000 from start to finish) but has meant that my DS will get the support he needs to access mainstream education (which he loves)

We also had IQ tests done, which show him as very gifted (as many children with HFA are) . Knowing HOW he learns helps us help him. Smile

I would go to your GP as the first port of call and see what response you get. I would, though, try and get a DX as a priority rather than just SALT or OT. The DX will lead to a co-ordinated approach.

This is, of course, assuming that your LO is the same as my DS and that may not be the case. I'm posting as the mum of a HFA boy, not an expert Smile

TheTermagantToaster · 04/09/2012 20:50

Onceortwice, can I ask where your DS's difficulties lie?

Original poster
Lily86 · 04/09/2012 20:55

Thank you for your advice. I have had a feeling it might of been autism just cause of the strange things he had been doing. My husband has been no support saying im being silly and he dosent want to hear it etc :( i just want what is best for my son and get him the help if he needs it. X

OP posts:
onceortwice · 04/09/2012 21:00

I've started this response about 10 times.

After some thought: It is not feeling in CONTROL of what is happening.

He has problems with listening and taking direction.
He still has a few problems with expressive language (though these appear to be easing quite dramatically recently)

He prefers to be autonomous.
He is unpredictable and will not 'follow a crowd'

He is quite amazingly intelligent - he once made scrambled eggs while in the care of a nanny. He can unpick any lock. I mean ANY lock. He can dp jigsaws faster than I can. But he can't wait to hear what's expected of him. He just goes ahead and does what he feels he should. And he refuses to listen / react when he wants to do something. (Like, he will know I am shouting at him to stop, but he won't respond and will just keep going)

He has poor social skills (so, he is totally toilet trained, but may or may not remember to wash his hands, or replace his pants or shut the door etc) social rules don't apply!!!

I think that's a good snapshot!!

saintlyjimjams · 04/09/2012 21:05

The eyes things is called stimming - we call it 'funny eyes' in our house and ds1 still does it now (he's a teenager and started at around 18 months). By itself I wouldn't worry at all. So if your son is communicating well (don't worry too much about speech), pointing at things of interest etc etc then please don't worry too much about some stimming - it might just be that he thinks it looks funny. But if you have other concerns in combination with this then it would be worth asking for a referral. Partly because waiting lists are so so long, and you can always cancel an appointment you end up not needing, but usually can't shorten the wait for a desperately needed appointment iyswim.

This is a helpful website - especially the video glossary where they show typical and atypical behaviours. Hopefully it will help put your mind at rest, but if you still have concerns then it might be a useful way to persuade a GP or HV to refer your son for further assessment.

Good luck - please, please try not to worry.. Your husband's reaction is typical for husbands, and hopefully he's right. But you are doing the right thing in asking about it.

onceortwice · 04/09/2012 21:05

Ironic, Lily - my DH was in total denial until I actually got the piece of paper which confirmed it (which I am not going to lie about , is hard to see... I KNEW and I still fell to pieces for a good 24 hours)

And I recently met a lovely lady with a little boy like mine (who I know is on MN) and HER husnband called her neurotic!!)

Look, we are thier mums. We love them and we know. And sometimes, you know, even though you don't know what it is. YOu just know there is some difference.

My DS is 4 now and all I can say is, while I wouldn't have chosen this, I wouldn't change him for ALL THE ENTIRE WORLD. I adore him more than I can express. Just as I adore my DD.

TheTermagantToaster · 04/09/2012 21:07

He sounds wonderful :).

I was just interested because my DS has a few issues (hypersensitive to certain sounds, slow speech and a passion for things which spin).

Original poster
Lily86 · 04/09/2012 21:13

Thank u for the link i will have a look at it. X

OP posts:
onceortwice · 04/09/2012 21:14

Thankyou, Thethermaganttoaster - I think he is Grin

DS has certain sensitivity to hand driers / hair driers and doesn't like large / busy areas but otherwise OK.

DS's speech was slow but receptive language never been a problem and expressive language is now correcting (or appears to be)

DS has never had too much of a passion for spinning (much more things going backwards and forward across his eyes)

Obviously, I have to say again: This is only my one opinion. Nut hopefully it is helpful!

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