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Behaviour/development

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what is normal behaviour for an 17month old?

40 replies

misdee · 16/02/2004 23:22

i have a few questions about dd2. she is a lovely little girl, not very affectionate, but will give kisses when she feels like it. she has been sorting shapes/colours for ages, doesnt speak weel (says again, dadda, mummy) but most of the time is pretty basic in her sounds. she throws herself about a fair bit (spent the trip today in the buggy throwing herslef back and forth laughing insanely even when she hit her head on the back bar). people have referred to her as a hurricane as she rarely stops. she doesnt eat well, will have porraige and yoghurt, but will rarely eat much else, altho lately she has gotton better and will feed herself. she doesnt respond straight away to u if talking to her, most of the day she ignores me, i have to catch her attention by waving my hand in her line of vision. she passed her hearing checks so i know its not that. she knows when i mention going out as she will get everyones coat and shoes for them and gives them to the correct people. mention bed and she is traight upstairs, mention a drink she will go to the cup cupboard and get out cups and matching lids. she will spend hours putting things in and out of a box, i got her a puzzle ball thing from ikea recently, she will put in back together in the correct color order instead of randomally like her sister does.
to me she seems bright and just seems to watch and learn rather than risk learning herslef (IYKWIM). she has also started chewing her clothes (yuk) and now everything goes in her mouth. is this right, i thought babies did that earlier.
any info would be great.

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Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
Davros · 18/02/2004 17:45

misdee, did you try the CHAT test? Some of the things you've said ring alarm bells.

misdee · 18/02/2004 21:21

today she said apple when watching msarteenies and they were drawing apples. so happy.
i havent done the CHAT test with her as she has been at her grandmas today.

OP posts:
misdee · 18/02/2004 22:50

she also hasnt had her mmr yet, as she has been pretty poorly at times, was very sicky (still is) and has very soft poos. so i'm a wimp who hasnt gotton round to having it done.

OP posts:
misdee · 25/02/2004 21:21

sorry for bringing this back up but in the last week she has started pointing loads. if she spots anyone on the walks to get dd1 from nursery she will point at them and keep her finger following them till out of sight or something else grabs her attention. she has started eating better. is still totally absorbed in things, i spent ages calling her from the seat across the room today only got a response when iwaved my hand in front of her. so maybe she can just focus intently on things which isnt all bad i guess.

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nutcracker · 25/06/2004 00:43

Just wondered if someone could explain this to me.

I have just had a quick look at the link for the CHAT test, and am a bit confused.

Am i reading correctly, it does say that the test is done at 18mths old, yes ???

My Ds is 18mths and can't do most of the things on that test.

Some of the things seem a bit ambitious to me, like the pretending to make a cup of tea, he wouldn't have a clue how to do that.

Jimjams · 25/06/2004 01:01

Yes 18 months. Agree about the cup of tea- but that is just testing imaginative play. putting a doll to bed, playing with a toy farm, talking on a toy telephone etc would be the same.

How is he at following points etc- and pointing out things of interest, or pointing at the ceiling?

tammybear · 25/06/2004 01:06

omg u guys have scared me, just been reading about this CHAT test, and i havent been told about it before, and my dd is 18 months, and there are a couple of things she hasnt done. does she actually have this test done with health visitor?

nutcracker · 25/06/2004 01:39

I've been racking my brains trying to remember if he points at stuff or not. I'll have to try and get him to in the morning and see.

Was just a bit worried when i read the things that the H.V was supposed to observe as he can't do any i don't think.

Was trying not to get myself in a tis, but he's started hand flapping and wlking on tip toes too.
His head banging does seem to have subsided though.

nutcracker · 25/06/2004 01:40

Actually he will pretend to talk on the phone so perhaps that would be o.k.

Jimjams · 25/06/2004 11:19

The CHAT test was never introduced properly- for many reasons. However it remains a useful and fairly accurate SCREENING tool and it is just a screening tool- NOT a diagnostic tool. It depends "what" your child fails on (for example some of the questions- such as "does your child enjoy rough and tumble play" are completely irrelevent. At 18 months my son did have some pretend play. He could for example (once shown) pour out a pretend cup of tea, he could pretend to give a doll a bottle etc (although compared with ds2 at the same age his pretend pay was quite rigid and limited- still is now at 5). However he failed on all the pointing tasks. (both producing and following points- although he could point at objects in books- often using my hand of his whole hand though). If we said "show me the ceiling" he would look at it but not point. That would have classed as a fail.

If at 18 months your child does fail the CHAT test then I would say it is worth seeing your HV and asking for a referral - either to a specialist SALT (one who specialises in communication disorders) or to a developmental paed. At the very least I think a re-check in 3 months should be done. If there is a problem the earlier a child is in the system the better- and because of waiting lists a referral at 18 months is unlikely to produce much in the way of proper assessment until gone 2 unfortunately. That does mean that during the wait there is a chance to see whether a child "catches up" iyswim.

Jimjams · 25/06/2004 11:20

tammybear- its not so much that a child hasn't done something - its that they can't. The most important parts of the CHAT test really are the bits to do with pointing or following points.

tammybear · 25/06/2004 14:12

Does pointing at the screen on the tv count? My dd does do any pretend play. I have a toy phone that when I make it ring, she picks it up, but when I try to hold it to her ear, she doesnt like it, and pushes it away.

tammybear · 25/06/2004 14:13

sorry that was suppose to be "she doesnt do any pretend play"

blossomhill · 25/06/2004 15:26

Tammybear - I always believe it's best to get things checked out. I pushed for my dd to checked by a SALT at 2 as I knew something wasn't right even though the HV was trying to convince otherwise. Thankfully I did as my dd has a language disorder which was dx just after 2. This has been a great help and means that dd is getting the help she needs. Having my ds who was a "dream" child developmentally meant that I had a comparison as well so knew things were not as they should be. Although I hadn't heard of the CHAT test then.
I would just say get it checked out and TBH you probably won't have any problems but if you do then at least it's picked up early enough to do something. Not sure about the pointing at the tv, but should think any pointing of interest is a sign.

Vittoria123 · 09/07/2024 18:58

misdee · 25/02/2004 21:21

sorry for bringing this back up but in the last week she has started pointing loads. if she spots anyone on the walks to get dd1 from nursery she will point at them and keep her finger following them till out of sight or something else grabs her attention. she has started eating better. is still totally absorbed in things, i spent ages calling her from the seat across the room today only got a response when iwaved my hand in front of her. so maybe she can just focus intently on things which isnt all bad i guess.

Any update please ? Was she diagnosed eventually ? ☺️

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