Concerns about my daughter.

[DontWannaBeObamasElf]

My daughter is 14.5 months old. She can walk unaided however she has no words, doesn't point or wave, she can clap but mostly it's arm flapping. She doesn't seem to respond to her name as well as before and when it comes to her toys she just hits them together then throws them.

She'll look and move an object in her hand and just stare at it.

She loves books but is more than happy to sit herself with them. She has good eye contact and will beam when I look at her, she likes to find me when I hide and laughs a lot when she does.

She does make a "mmmmmm" nose and she seems to say "goh" a lot.

I'm waiting for my HV to call back and arrange an appointment to see her.

Also if I point and look at something she doesn't pay attention.

Thank you everyone, so much! Yes she loves peek a boo and pulling blankets off ours and her own head. Also if I say "mummy hide" she'll come looking for me whilst giggling and laughs her beautiful little head off when she finds me.

I mean we went swimming the other day and she was squealing with sheer joy and jumping up and down while waiting in the queue. I want what she's on.

She sounds lovely, Fanjo. It's the stigma surrounding it and people's attitude towards it that scares me.

Well you can avoid that if you stay off the Daily Mail comments page generally I find.

She is very young though. You are doing the right thing getting her checked but dont worry too much

There's a certain amount of just being scared of the unknown if that makes sense.

Yeah I agree Sim. I know she's only little so will be amazed at the smallest things but she has a couple of teapots and will sit for ages pushing the buttons and lifting and closing the lids. I don't have much experience with babies/toddlers so I have no idea if it's normal or not.

DS was a bit of a slow one to get to shared attention/pointing. In fact he was at the 'slow end' of nearly every milestone - didn't crawl until 1Yo, didn't point until 18 months, first word around 17 months. I did worry a lot, and while I don't think you should ignore gut instinct and you've done the right thing to get help, please do try not to worry too much :)

I'm trying, mrscog. She does things where I think "Nah, she's fine!" Then I catch her licking her bedroom wall or spinning a remote and I think "why are you doing that?!"

Hehe - you see I'd classify both spinning a remote and licking walls as very normal young toddler behaviour - unless they were the only activities they were doing, or if they did it for a prolongued amount of time (like more than 30-40 mins without getting distracted).

My dd didn't know or respond to her name at all for ages. Not quite sure when she started to but was very sudden, ie within a month she seemed to hear it and then could say it! I'd say at 19-20 months so bit late but totally normal!

It can be. No one can say except a professional.

You are right to get them to check her if you have concerns although I expect them to say wait and see.

Noone here can interpret anything. I could say ny daughter doesnt like eye contact and neither so I..she is on spectrum and I am not.

Please don't get all worried though. She is doing really well and I dont see massive red flags tbh.

I was quite worried that she didn't seem to have words for ages but it is true there is a very wide range of normal for that stage!

Bottom line IMO is dont ignore concerns because people will naturally try to reassure you, but gether assessed. But dont get all worried and dwell on it as when/if all is found to be OK you will have wasted a lot of energy.

I'm sat watching her sleep as she's so bloody cute when not making a mess of the living room! Her visit is later on this afternoon, I feel a little but anxious but not overly so.

Is there anything I can request to be done if the HV has a wait and see attitude?

Can request a referral to paed. Please don't worry too much though and enjoy her.

The HV has just left. She has no cause for concern based on her eye contact and that BabyElf wasn't distressed by her being there.

We have an appointment on Monday at the clinic for a wee assessment to see how she gets on and they'll keep an eye on her from there.

well..my DD doesn't get distressed at people being there and has eye contact. Glad you have a clinic appointment :)

i totally am not trying to make you worry.

I just would like her to be checked out by someone who seems to know what they are talking about, so you can be properly reassured :)

Yeah I didn't take those reasons as enough to ease my worries. The assessment is with the HV again and before our GP appointment so at least I have that as a back up if I'm not happy with what the HV says.

My son had many odd little habits, didn't wave or point, was late to talk etc but made good eye contact and was/ is very affectionate and cuddly. Not to worry you but it isn't as simple as "eye contact = NT"

They're all so different. DS got a dx of aspergers in the end but your dd could well be completely nt. My son could also never work out how to tip a sippy cup in order to drink out of it. We had to hold it for him. Mind you, he's still got no common sense! :-D

The HV sounds clueless. Mind you the first paed we saw when DS was about 4 or 5 said "He's not autistic. He's just a little slow". Slow!

Yeah, like I said to my partner, I'll wait and see how she gets on at the clinic on Monday. There's so much information out there!

my Dd has good eye contact and would never get stressed just because of the presence of a HV. she has nevertheless severe ASD.
I am in no way suggesting your Dd has Asd but based on the points above you cannot rule out Asd. sorry but your HV seems clueless. ours was as well.

i would recommend going via GP .

That's why she is being assessed further. She wants to see how she interacts outwith a familiar environment. When you say severe ASD can you explain that to me? I'm totally clueless.

Oh, and I have a GP appointment set up straight after just incase