Hand flapping and other red flags?

[Reddeb]

I'm a bit worried about my ds, but I do tend towards anxiety and overanalysis. Ds is 20 months old from all his milestones he appears to be developing normally, sat unaided 6 months, crawled 9 months, walked 14 months, fine motor skills seem good, has around 20 words, v sociable and loving child. He is v sociable with other children, he has good imaginative play. Ok these are the things I'm concerned with he is a v v picky eater maybe only 4 foods he eats consistently, he moves around a lot, finds it hard to sit down for a whole book. He tantrums which I suppose isn't unusual but during a tantrum has sometimes bitten himself or his sleeve and hit himself, I guess he's expressing anger. Also he handflaps when excited, something I hadn't seen before. Are these red flags for autism
Or is it just his age? Thanks

Totally unqualified opinion, but doesn't sound like autism to me, as he has met his milestones and developed normally so far. As far as I know, autism always comes with some form of developmental delay. Hand flapping can be symptomatic of ASD but usually comes alongside a lot of other traits.

Plus imaginative play would be atypical of a child with an ASD, especially one so young.

Sounds normal to me anyway - my one year old does all of those things too. 20 months is a frustrating age - old enough to have an opinion, not old enough to have the skills to express it!

There is a short online test that you can look at if you are worried about autism:

www.m-chat.org/

From what you've written here I don't think I would be all that concerned, but I'm by no means an expert.

Not being able to sit still for a book would be well within the realms of typical behaviour for a 20mth-old. Moving around a lot is also typical. At that age they often just want to get on with exploring and doing things.

Handflapping doesn't necessarily mean all that much. It can often just be a sign that a child is frustrated about something.

Thanks for the reassurance, the m-chat test says he's low risk. Should also adds that when he has hit himself or bitten himself during a tantrum he has never actually hurt himself. I had been thinking that perhaps the problem was his inability to express everything that he wants to. I guess I shouldn't google my concerns the results are never reassuring, you'd think I'd learn.

Ha ha! You are not alone...

My daughter is 22 months.

When she tantrums she either (or a combination)....

1. Pulls her hair
2. Hits her face
3. Bites her fists
4. Bites anything - ranging from the carpet to door frames!!!

Sometimes she throws herself on the floor......but checks before she lies down that there's space!

I'm glad he's not the only one. Sometimes he collapses dramatically to the floor before a tantrum, the funny thing is he checks he's on a nice soft rug or has a cushion close by so he doesn't hurt himself. This does rather spoil the dramatic effect though!

I was told handflapping is normal up to a certain age, when I asked. Ds did it until he was nearly 4yo. And then had about another month doing it age nearly 6yo after helpful big sister said to him "you used to do this, it looked like you were trying to fly"

an otherwise normal set of milestones isn't usually consistent with asd. keep track if you are concerned, but the speech, crawling and walking milestones point entirely the opposite way ime.

Autism doesn't always come with developmental delay. Lots of children with HF ASD hit milestones early. My DDs both did, some ridiculously early.

Handflapping can be present in Autism but NT children often do it too. The other things you describe are pretty age appropriate.

I would accept the M-Chat result and not worry unless something very significant becomes apparent in the future. I certainly wouldn't be concerned about the child you have described.

Thanks for your advice. Ever since I noticed his hand flapping he seems to be doing it more than ever, but maybe I'm just more aware of it. Anyway will try not to worry.

he seems to be doing it more than ever

It's really hard once you've noticed something isn't it?

Autism is a disorder that goes across all areas of development. Children with ASD usually show different symptoms across several areas. What you've described is all sensory. I would have been concerned if you'd mentioned sleep problems, lack of eye contact, lack of interest in people, no effort at verbal interaction, rigidity about routine, or other things which cross areas of development.

Keep an open mind. It's impossible to say yes or no over the internet and very difficult to diagnose at such an early age anyway. Just keep an eye and, if you feel concerned, ask for an appointment to see a developmental or community paediatrician. If your DS is fine (which I think is most likely) you'll find that reassuring. If not he'll get early support.

Those can be red flags for autism but his communication skills sound good, so far more likely to be an NT child learning how to deal with emotions. Does he point to objects if interest to show you them?

Fwiw my severely autistic son has never handflapped in the 14 years he's been on this planet :)

What you've written doesn't sound unusual for his age - not a professional but a parent of a child with ASD.

Fortunately for us he sleeps well, is interested in people and communicating, will point out objects, that interest him, to me. I am wondering about sensory issues and what this means.

It probably doesn't mean very much. Ds2 has sensory issues - was a pita about clothing, can't use rubbers because they make his teeth go funny, is a bit crap at craft etc Found swimming hard to learn & is still (secondary school age) quite sensory aversive. It means he isn't a risk taker like many boys - which is good I think! His clothes never get as muddy as ds3's :)

Physical risk taker I mean....

I recommend the book "The Out of sync child" if you want to read up on sensory issues. Sensory processing problems can be part of autistic spectrum disorders (and can also exist alongside other conditions eg ADHD), but sensory processing disorder can also be given as a stand-alone diagnosis. I agree with Goldmandra that the things in your list look mostly like they could be sensory-related.