son showing signs of autism

[aliciaamber]

Hi im looking for a bit of help,I have a 22 month old son who used to say moma, dadda, boo ,ears, apple ,oh dear and his sisters name ,now he has stopped saying words all together for two months apart from apple .He spins round in circles with his eyes to the side but does not get dizzy he can do this for a long time until i try to stop him but he carrys on.He flaps his arms walks on tiptoes 90% of the time with his hands clenched hes done this since he could walk,He does not like new people especially women he screams and holds his breath if any one new talks to him,He hates loud noises eg: hoover ,shouting ,loud music and motor bikes and he loves spinning wheels on his cars also he can not feed his self with a bottle unless lying down. Im worried about taking him to the doctors in case they think im an over reacting mommy my doctors are not very helpful .Can anyone offer me some advice plz xx

Well I don't have a child on the autistic spectrum myself, so I imagine others with closer experience will advise you better, but I do have a Godson with severe autism, so I have some experience of autistic behaviours. ( In his case he didn't regress, he had issues from birth, looking back). But many of the things you describe do need checking, and I think talking to your GP is probably the best start as he/she can then refer you to a paediatrician, who can then look at the whole picture.

Thank you for your reply ,I have rang the gp today but can't get him in till Tuesday :(

If you don't get any joy with your GP, you can ask your HV to refer your DS to a community paediatrician who should be able to start a neurodevelopmental assessment. The assessment can include observations and reports from various professionals like SALT, HV, Early Years setting if he attends one, plus a play assessment and taking a full developmental history from before birth. It's a long and comprehensive process which takes quite some time and can be quite stressful but, at the end of it, you should have some recommendations about how best to support your DS and what he may need in terms of educational support in the future.

If your DS has Autism, you will need to toughen up a bit, I'm afraid. I used to care a great deal about not coming across as one of 'those' parents but since my DDs were diagnosed with Aspergers, I have had to stop worrying about what people think of me and prioritise getting their needs met.

Remember. You know your child better than any medical or other professional who observes him. Your gut feeling is a really good guide to whether he needs support and you and his father are the only people for whom your DS's needs are of paramount importance. Every professional you see will also have to consider the needs of many other children, budgets, professional relationships, career progression, etc. Have confidence in your role as your DS's advocate and don't allow anyone to fob you off with rubbish like he is too young for a diagnosis or his behaviour is normal if you know it isn't.

Good luck on Tuesday.

Hope it goes ok for you. It's so difficult and worrying when you suspect your child has issues like this.

DS age 5 is just diagnosed with high functioning autism.

They won't think you're overreacting - you have genuine concerns - and they see people panicking all the time about very minor things.

If he does have anything then the sooner you know the sooner you can start helping him. And if he doesn't have anything then you'll have peace of mind

He is showing some red flags. Make a list of concerning behaviours when you visit the GP and ask for a referral to a paed. You may need to be quite firm.
How is his non verbal communication? Does he point; both at things he sees and things he wants? Does he point as interesting things and look back to check you've seen it too? Most children are pointing by 14mths and children who aren't pointing by 18mths warrant investigation. Have you seen the Mchat test? Google it and have a look. Does he bring things to show you such as books, toys, bits of fluff from the carpet? Does he share things such as biscuits with you by leaning over and offering you some? Make a note of all these things.
The spinning, tiptoeing, hand clenching and hatred of loud noises all sound sensory related. The looking out of the side of his eyes is common in children with asd. My DS did this.
You need to get bolshy and be firm but polite to get taken seriously. Good luck