I'm worried that my 15 month old is autistic.

[eatsleepcookrepeat]

Hello,

My DD is 15 months. She's my second daughter, my eldest is 3.

She doesn't respond to her name when called and 'ignores' us a lot.

She does sometimes follow instruction if we are down low with her. Like building towers and putting lids on pots, putting the ball in the shoot etc. If I say clap she'll clap- but she won't respond to her name.

Shes a good Walker and was a good crawler (crawled at 10 months and walked on her 1st birthday)

She has pointed but I could count on 1 hand how many times.
She's not very affectionate unless it's milk time but then again her sister wasn't affectionate at all and now she's a big softie.

I'm just mainly worried about not responding to her name.

DD1 hit all the milestones and spoke very early. I know you shouldn't compare but I am a big worrier.

Has anyone got any experience of this please?

does she have any words yet? its usually one word around 16 months, does she ever point to show you things of interest, she could just be a late developer.

She says dada and babbles but not much else.

I have the same concerns OP. My daughter is 19 months. Not responding to her name only now and again but I think its coincidence as I call her lots of times and she doesn't respond.
I'm finding it hard to communicate with her at all as theres lack of eye contact with her. She will look at me if I sing but that's about it. If I try to sit with her she just prefers to climb me instead of playing with me again with no eye contact. No speech but like your daughter says dada (but not directly to her dad) and babbles quite a bit.
She also doesn't like comfort she just struggles with to get away so I feel like theres no connection between us and it's really upsetting me that I cant make that connection with her. My mum feels the same. She is my second dc. Her brother is 12 months older and he done everything very quickly and whilst I'm not comparing them in the slightest as every child is different, I know in my heart something isnt right. Her brother tries playing with her and she doesn't really wanna know.
Plus every single person keeps telling me "girls come on quicker than boys" and that doesn't help how I feel. I will love my daughter no matter what but I'm scared. I'm scared of what lies ahead for her and im also scared because I cant connect with her the way I did with my son.
It sounds awful but sometimes i feel like she isnt my daughter because she wont bond with me.

I'm praying someone on here is gonna tell me they've been there and worn the tshirt and things will be ok.

But I feel the same as you OP and just wanted to say you're not alone x

@littlerayofsunshine0 wow you sound like you could be me!

I keep telling my self I'm being silly because she's fine with everything else. Good at motor skills and walking is excellent. She does play with her sister but isn't affectionate.

It's just the not responding to her name at all and also she VERY emotional and her melt downs are huge.

It's draining and I find my self counting down the hours until sleep and nap times!

I just wish I could fast forward a few months to see if she gets past this. I truly hope so and I hope it's nothing and I'm just being silly.

both our daughters sound very alike. My dd motor skills are fine too no concerns there whatsoever and she was walking at 12 months, shes running and jumping now and able to handle stairs and steps etc...

Its engaging with her is the issue ☹

I've one suggestion as I'm currently waiting to get get all this done since chatting to the pediatrician. Get her hearing checked! I dont think anything is wrong with dd's hearing but gp thinks it's best to rule it out completely. You should arrange the same hub x

Yes I plan to call the doctor on Tuesday when I'm off work for a hearing test.
I have noticed actually that if she's playing and I make a loud sound she most of the time doesn't react.

It's almost like it's selective hearing, which I understand with my stubborn 3.5 year old but not youngest dd.
Watching loads of videos on YouTube and googling really hasn't helped me.

Someone else suggested development could be slower in a second child, especially when the eldest child is very chatty and 'helpful'.
I guess I'm hoping for that.

I'm also hoping by spotting it early we can tackle it and we can sort it out a bit, I'm sure you feel the same

My ds didn't speak until 3, his understanding and social communication was also delayed but as it can also be a symptom of autism i was very concerned, the paediatrician really helped, she put him on the pathway for an autism diagnosis, got him 1-1 support at a mainstream nursery and recommended a great private speech therapist - it was a long painstaking road to speech and understanding but at 5 is just about there now and in mainstream school.

OP my little boy was cross that he had no way to communicate so we started with makaton.

Oh and he didn't have autism btw it did prove to be a delay and that was his eventual diagnosis.

I’m not sure if you are still active on this. I just wondered how your little one is getting on now. My son is 15 months and I have exactly the same concerns as you described above. So was curious to see how your little one is developing now.

I know it's been a while but I really wish people would come back with an update at least once

@eatsleepcookrepeat How is your LO doing now?

@littlerayofsunshine0how is your daughter now? Any updates?

Any update pleaseeee