Toddler tic, physically scans people

[FountainOfYouth]

It is a bit difficult to describe but here goes.

My DS is 2 years and 7 months old. He is speech delayed and getting speech therapy. He is also hyper extensive i.e. double jointed and has been referred to a physio but she does not see any long term problem with it. The word "autism" has been mentioned and then dismissed by 3 healthcare professionals.

He has a tic sometimes of scrunching up his face, balling his fists and quivering usually if he is very excited / interested about something since he was 1 yo.

He has also taken to jumping on the spot a lot lately.

He does this other thing of standing in front of someone, bending down to look really closely at their legs then sort of scanning upwards to their face, with his face all scrunched up and body tensed. At home we joke that it is like the Terminator scanning someone but he did it a number of times with the physiotherapist this week and I didn't know what to say to her! His face would be an inch from her chest, she figured that he was gazing at the knit pattern on her jumper.

Has anyone else had similar experience with their toddler? I can't get the message across to him to stop or say it is not appropriate because of the speech delay.

Also meant to add he sort of straddles people quite forcefully sometimes, wrapping his legs around the waist...usually me but he also did it with the physiotherapist, it is like his way of giving a hug.

Hi. My DS is slightly younger than yours but does similar things! He is also speech delayed so I wonder if the scrunching face and shaking type behaviour is to do with frustration and not having the skills to express themselves any other way. My son does it only when excited or around other children, tends to be when they're in close proximity to each other. Unfortunately it then often turns into a hitting and smacking episode which is a bit of a problem.

I've no advice but do sympathise. Are you finding speech therapy is helping your son?

Hi, thanks for response! Nice to know we are not alone. DS has had a speech therapy assessment but hasn't started properly with SLT yet. That is private, we are on public waiting list.
We have been doing an online programme ourselves at home for about 2 months (called Gemiini) and that has brought him on a lot, teaches words and actions but has also calmed his behaviour and made him happy to sit at the table. He used to go mad wanting to watch tv at mealtimes, we have cut that out and he does not watch much tv at all now, happy to play independently.

There is no hitting or slapping issues but he will knock other kids toys down, for example if they are building blocks, and it is hard to discipline him given the speech delay. Do you find communication hard with your DS, for example that hitting is wrong?