Some one please help re: autism 2 year old

[staryeyed]

My son has just turned 2 and me and my partner think he may be autistic.

He doesn't talk and although he has learned some words (maybe 35),he never uses them. When we try to get him to say something or ask him "what's that ?"he gets annoyed and walks away. He does babble away though.
He has pointed, and if asked to chose between two things he is shown, he will point at one. But he doesn't follow a point or point generally for things he wants- he will go and stand by it or use his own made up sign that means he wants something.
He still mouths things in fact he will eat a crayon rather than draw with it.
He very often prefers to play by himself although he does also play with us.
He ignores other children.
He has no imaginative play although I think he was pretending to eat something once.
He does give eye contact to me and my partner I'm not sure about other people.
He very often ignores me when I call him
but he can follow instructions.
He has no sleep problems, eating problems or behavioural problems. Its just really the social aspect.

I am so concerned for him that I cant sleep. We have been to the GP to tell him our concerns and he has referred us to the Developmental paediatrician. I received a letter to say that we will receive an appointment with Speech therapy. I just don't know the processes of these things. Who can diagnose autism? Can the speech therapist diagnose it? Who else should he be referred to? what are the next steps? What should I be doing to help him?

Does he imitate you? How did he learn to say use a cup. If you pretend to drink out of cup does he copy? Or if you say "do it like this" does he try and copy?

The SALT can't dx autism- but you've been referred to the paediatrician anyway so that's fine- he/she can- and is the best person to do so.

Stop trying to make him talk- it can really turn some children off. Has he actually said 35 words, that's not too bad for his age- I know the books say 50, but things like pointing etc are far more important at this age.

Reading your post I don't have huge alarm bells going off (I have a severely autistic child myself),

I've recently started a website/blog about autism products and services. I have a couple of entries concerning pre-diagnosis which might be useful for you- you can see them by clicking here I bought the First Signs book I mention on there when I was concerned about ds3 (who turned out to be fine). Even with an autistic brother I couldn't remember what was really important amongst all the symptoms, and that book kind of sets it out. It's American, so stuff about the system doesn't really apply, but it's still very useful.

Oh god sorry- that 'stop trying to talk' sounds very bossy-0 I didn;t meaan it to. I just remember when ds1 was 2 I was told that I could make him talk by a lot of people and that he was just lazy etc etc, and it just wasn't like that! I didn't mean to sound quite so bossy though (the dangers of typing with children next to me!)

Sound pretty familar. My ds wasn't diagnosed till he was 3 but I has doubts from when he was 2.
My ds still has very few sleep problems, but the food issues started around 2 1/2.
I would suggest asking your HV or GP for a refferal for a CDC(cild development check).
Speech therapy is standard though to make sure that it isn't a speech delay.
My ds is coming on in leaps and bounds since his diagnosis and getting the help he needs.
Feel free to ask more questions. I'll try to help!

Oh I should also have said- although I don't have huge alarm bells going off (and I don't) it is always best to follow up if you're in any way concerned. Good luck!

i think you need to talk to your hv, she should refer you to your community paediatrician or child development centre. he will have to be observed for some time by a whole team of people before they can diagnose autism. did he know his name before he was one? if not that shows up in a lot of autistic traits as a way of early diagnosis but obviuosly he'll still need looking at.

Ask for a hearing test.

Thanks guys I really appreciate your quick replies.

Unsure if he knew his name before one. Do you mean did he turn round if I called his name? Either way I really cant remember.

Will stop trying to make him talk.

Yes he has said about that many words but many of them just once. But he never uses them. He has repeated them and then its as if he has forgotten them. Sometimes he seems to talk about things randomly we cant really figure out what he is saying but seems just to be chatting away (mostly babbling with a couple of words thrown in) rather than making a conversation iyswim.

With the cup thing- I helped him. I didn't show him. I lifted the cup up for him until he held it himself. I think that is how he has learned most things by doing them with my help or exploring himself.

Did imitate me doing a funny walk when we were playing earlier but I cant think of anything else he has imitated.

Personalclown -what are the food issues your ds has?

My son also used to love reading books with me but now he only reads his words books. Doesn't seem to have the patience for stories even short ones.

Is there things I should be doing to help him? Is there anything I shouldn't be doing?

I have started giving him fish oils eskimo kids. I have been trying to get him to talk but will stop that.

I'm worried that he will start getting worse and I don't know how long before he will get to see a specialist. This PCT is tight so could be ages to get an appointment.

Food Issues- so much fun!
Ds won't eat anything wet, sauces etc. Textures can't be mixed together. It can take months to get him to eat something new but at least he's stopped having a meltdown at the offering of something new.
His diet at the moment consists of grated cheese, crisps, crackers, toast, chips, bread, pizza crusts, biscuits etc.
He does drink fruit juice, squash, milk, water etc

staryeyed- you've been brilliant- really on the ball. As he's not imitating I'd say look into ABA- a full programme is hugely expewnsive and a huge committment but it can be done in fewer hours (we run an ABA programme for an hour a day after school for example). You can slo do it yourself. It starts by teaching imitation with no imitation skills needed to be in place. I used \link(www.helpuslearn.com/html/links.htm\this} to get going. Worth looking at the links.

If you're interested biomed have a look at treating autism

Do push for a developmental assessment as well (might take some time), but things like ABA can be used with anyone (I sometimes do it with ds3 who is fine because he loves the sessions and sees his big brother doing them).

I'll try the ABA link again

I agree that if you're worried you should see paeds and SALT etc but your 2yr old doesn't sound particularly abnormal to me. Does your LO go to nursery, playgroup, childminder etc? If so what do they think?

oh that page on my website has a link to Forepath who will do an online developmental assessment screen thing for $10. It might be useful as it might let you jump the queue if concerns come back. It is possible to queue jump, as often ASD assessmnets are multidisciplinary so they lok for the most suitable children. For example ds1 was assessed almost immediately after moving to our area (ie didn;t queue at all) as it was fairly clear he was on the spectrum.

This might help set your mind at rest as well- I've had a qucik lok at it and it looks pretty good as a screening tool.

You've had some terrific advice on here, Star. Follow it all up, of course.

But if it helps you through the day, none of the things you described in your OP sound that unusual for a child of his age. Sometimes, at around this age (between 2 and 2.6), there's an explosion of speech, imaginative play, etc. It sometimes seems to fall into place literally overnight.

To pick up on just one, my ds is 2.6 and has only just started noticing other children (of his age).

I know that some children develop differently but when I take him to toddler group he does seem to stand out from other children. Although no one has mentioned anything to me. I see other children playing and quite often my son is running around by himself and not really doing much else. He does not go to nursery but my mum looks after him while I go to work. I don't even want to tell her about this but that is a different story. I talked to my friend about him the other day and she said she had seen similar behaviours in her nephew who has aspergers. She said that he seems to be in his own world.

He also used to have an obsession with spinning things until I took away everything that could spin and now he seems to have forgotten about it so maybe it was just a phase.

I have been doing some research and every time I come across assessment criteria or a personal story I see those characteristics in my son.

Gess- sorry if I'm being thick but what do I do about the ABA?- order the book and learn it and teach it to my son?

Well that's one way Sorry its a huge topic area that was just to get started- have a look at some links first if you decided you wanted to give it a go then I found that quite useful when we started out, but its not cheap. There are other must have books though - A work in progress is one example.

There are quite a few people on the SN board running various forms of ABA and other programmes - you could ask them how they got going. Thinking about free stuff- you could google floortime and connections centre (separately) and you'll find free videos etc. Apologies this is a bit rushed have 2 of the kids here right now so can't give this justice. If I get time tonight I'll add an introductory piece on my website about the different therapies. Sort of links to websites to get started. If you want to google in the meantime thre's ABA, VB, RDI, floortime and Son-Rise for starters. Some of those will have videos which may help act as a comparison.

FWIW your first description didnt worry me too much, your second about losing words (or saying once then never agin) and having to help with the cup unil he got it would concern me more. It's great that you've been referred to a paediatrician, I woudn't jump into anything too quickly (and I wouldn;t spend a fortune) as there may be nothing wrong at all and these things can be expensive quickly.

here floortime I seem to remember this had a lot of freebies on it.

You guys have been great. I really appreciate all the advice.

2 questions though:

1. My son isn't potty trained should I start thinking about it or is it too soon?

2. Should I arrange private speech and language therapy until he can get it on the NHS I know it will be expensive but sooner the better right?

my dd1 isn't potty trained and she's 3. although she can't walk i thought i'd try her as she does have the abilities of a 12-18 month old but thought i should see if she'd understand what i was trying to get her to do. she did wee on the potty but it was luck more than anything of me timing it just right, also when i showed her what she'd done i could clearly tell she didn't understand. i've given up for now but it's up to you when you try and these days nurseries and school have to accept children in nappies so don't make that worry you. you should do what you think is best.

also if you can afford to go private then i would.

For potty training we just sat ds1 repeatedly on the toilet and kept him there. He finally got it overnight- but he was almost 5. I don't think there's any harm trying. DS1 is severely autistic and its quite unusual for a child like him to be toilet trained but it certainly makes life easier. I kept waiting for signs of readiness and they never came (!) so I started late- if I was doing it again I would have started a lot earlier as I think he might have understood much earlier- and now I know how to do it!

Get the NHS referral but a private SALT is a good idea. You can pay for a few sessions and they'll give you stuff to do at home. You could ask if they're hanen trained - that can work wonders with children with speech/language delays.

Find your private SALT here .

also if you are anywhere near a Surestart Centre, they sometimes run (free) Hanen courses for children at risk of speech delay, as I understand it they are mostly about helping you learn the best ways to encourage kids to communicate. I think they are usually about 9 X 2.5 hour sessions. Hanen is a canadian organisation that specialises in helping children with speech delay (www.hanen.org).

staryeyed- I've written about SALT today here

the free dvd's look worth getting.

wow thanks gess you have been so helpful. What book do you recommend I get to help communication? You mentioned a few. Which do you think would be most appropriate to my sons situation?

TBH I think BabyTalk is a good one to start with, it gives the basic dos and don'ts. It obviously aimed at normally developing children but you can look at the correct developmental stage, and use it as a SALT resource. It gives the sorts of activities a basic SALT session would give. It's cheap as well.

Have a look at the Hanen website as well as there are some free resources/ideas on there.

I'll try to do a free resources entry soon.

Has anyone tried Max and friends dvd? It looks good but pricey though. Got a feeling I'm gonna be broke before long. Is there any sort of forum or community where people might be selling second hand resources? Also would like to try that transporters dvd but cant find that anywhere.