Am worried about DS but don't know if I should be...

[PPL]

Hello

I have no idea if I have anything to worry about. I'll start by saying I suffer from bad anxiety, have had PND/OCD. So I feel like I have lost touch with instinct and don't trust it for fear of it simply being an anxiety that I have dreamt up in a moment of madness.

I sometimes find myself lurking on mumsnet almost just to find something to worry about.

DS is 15 months so I know too early to really assess for ASD and I really don't know if I'm imagining something is wrong with him so I'm going to tell you a bit about him. Deep down I think I believe he is fine, as do those close to me. But I doubt everything.

Physically has met all milestones except walking - he still doesn't and has little interest. He cruises and bumshuffles and pulls up etc. but sits as soon as I try to encourage steps.

He is quite a quiet little boy when around other kids, people comment on him being very serious and inquisitive. He is a little explorer more than a 'player'. He can occupy himself for up to an hour just exploring, opening and closing things, he's quite confident in scooting off away from me in new places. Other times he whinges incessantly and can be quite clingy. He looks at other kids and particularly small babies or older children, but doesn't interact with them or try to.

He waves and claps and occasionally points (this is where my concerns arose I guess). He can point, but just doesn't very often. He has only started using index finger this last month and hardly ever does. Never to point at something he wants, only occasionally to point at something that interests him. And only the first time he sees it - eg he pointed at a plane once and then never since - he looks up but makes no big deal of it. I guess he sees them all the time where we live! He follows my point and always looks in the right direction.

If he wants something he reaches out with his hand and does his signature whinge. nuuuuugh. half the time he's reaching out to me and whinging and I have no idea what he wants. I actually don't think he does either sometimes. I think he's very frustrated a lot of the time.

He often brings things to me when we're in the park, for example. a leaf, bit of litter etc. He'll bring me boxes to open if he can't, or brings me things and looks at me inquisitively if he wants to know what it does/how it works.

He brings me books to read him and he plays 'appropriately' with things eg cars, phones, hairbrush etc.

He mimics me and also babbles incessantly, but no words at all yet. He says Dada A LOT but not appropriately. In fact when he sees something he likes he says Tata as in 'look at that! what's that!?' where other kids would point. He has lots of sounds despite no words. He can let me know yes or no and clearly understands a lot of what we say.

He is very sweet and waves at everyone he sees, and can be quite affectionate although doesn't really like being cuddled in the way lots of babies do.

He eats well if messily and doesn't seem to have any sensory problems. Has great eye contact.

So my main concerns are the lack of pointing and the social aspect. He just doesn't seem to 'need' people as much as other kids seem to. I know I should be pleased that he can play alone, but I feel sometimes he doesn't really know how to involve me. But at other times I think yes, he does. When he's figured out something new he likes to show me, eg the first time he pretended to use a phone. He looks at me if he's about to do something naughty, or when he sees someone/thing new.

And also the late walking. These two things led me to get a 'risk' result on the mChat test which totally freaked me out and led me to post on here. The rational side of me is telling me its inaccurate until he's 18 months.

I don't know what I'm asking. Reassurance? I guess so... I don't even know what it would mean if he was autistic. Does he sound NT to you? Should I bring it up with GP? HV is a bit rubbish and am a bit scared of GP as he know about my anxiety and I fear he may brush me off.

Any comments very much welcomed
thank you

I'm sure people who are more knowledgeable about the asd side of things will be along, but he does sound nt to me, shared interest, good eye contact and affectionate are all good. And the lack of interaction with other children is age appropriate. Developmentally he does not sound delayed at all, imo.

15 months is not considered late wrt walking, and speech wise it sounds as though he is on the right path and not delayed.

He's not a late walker and bum shufflers often don't walk until eighteen months plus.

My daughter is almost 2 it's only in the last 3 months that she started to talk really, 15m is vvv young!

He can point he just chooses not to!! My daughter rarely points - hadn't even realised until I read your post.

Kids don't really interact until much older.

He really sounds fine - please enjoy him and stop analysing everything, he's only going to be little once.

Well having two with autism I'd say your little one sounds nothing like either of mine at the same age and if he was mine I wouldn't be concerned tbh. Lots and lots of positives like Hazey says and I'd guess that speech is just around the corner with the babbling. As for the walking my two with autism walked earlier than the three without so don't think walking is any indication of possible autism tbh and wouldn't be of concern at all until ds was 19 months.
Try and relax and give hi a little more time if you still are worried at 18 months chat to your GP.

Ooh its a tricky one. Our ds2 has asd. We have an older son who is nt. I didnt really spot the signs with ds2. He was and still is a lovely boy. He was very hard work. He is and always has been affectionate. But he was always happy to play on his own. He did some eye contact but only on his own terms. He met all physical milestones. It was only when he was 2.5/3 that we had significant concerns. I think if you have concerns it would not hurt to discuss this with your hv or gp. They will probably dismiss you as your ds is young. Try not to look for signs as you will drive yourself mad. Asd can be very difficult to diagnose in little ones and many are not dx until after they are 3yrs old. If you still have worries pop over to the sn children boards.

I have 2 children with ASD and nothing in your post particularly shouts ASD to me. The MChat is meant to be done at 18months, not 15months so it is a bit like saying, children are meant to roll at 4 months, mine is 1 month now and not rolling. The fact he points at all is good.
Mine never played with toys appropriately, and still don't really (other than building stuff with lego - but they don't play with what they have built). They still don't wave naturally - the 10year old is just learning that he really needs to, but the 5 year old still couldn't give a stuff about waving, even if he is told to.
Try and relax (I know easier said than done) and redo the test at the right time.

Hi PPL, I get from post how worried you are. It seems like you have done some research, so you will know that ASD is complex and that only professionals can dx it.
Reading your post, your DS is definitely communicating with you. He babbles and mimics, he understands what you say, he brings objects of interest to you, he is showing joint attention, he plays appropriately, is sociable and has good eye contact. This is all great!
Please don't worry about the pointing. He can point. You have said that he says Tata when he's showing something of interest, rather than choosing to point. He is choosing his own way to communicate. The important thing is that he wants you to look at what he is interested in.
Your DS sounds lovely!

Thank you all so much for the responses. My instinct tells me he's fine but my negative outlook and inability to stop worrying always seems to win.

I am trying so hard to enjoy my little man and will try to stop looking for signs until ge's 18mo. You've all been very reassuring. And it's interesting to hear bum shufflers are later walkers!