Autism in 2 year old

[JadeM1]

Hi I'm just after a little advice as I have contacted my HV about my 2 year old boy having Autism and described the things he does/doesn't do and I feel as if I was just told to wait basically for his next check ups and left totally in the dark again. I was wondering if any parents with autistic children could advise me if they think he could possibly have it?
-He doesn't speak at all, he makes a lot of noises and tries to copy sounds (he did say mama dada baba but stopped and wasn't saying them directly to us they were just noises to him)
-He does stimming a lot by spinning round in circles and flapping his hands when he's excited and also throws himself back multiple times when he's sitting on the sofa
-When he's frustrated he will sit on the floor and bang his head off the floor
-He responds to his name very rarely and only understands 'come here, up, kiss, bye, drink'
-He maintains eye contact, smiles and giggles, wants to play with us and other children and is good around other people even if it's the first time meeting them

I'm sorry this is so long! Any advice or questions welcome, thank you for taking the time to read this!

I don't know whether or not it's ASD but that level of understanding I would say is quite concerning for a 2YO. I would really push push push for speech therapy at least ASAP and don't take no for an answer. Is he at nursery? Can they fight your cause? Xx

@Jannt86 I'm trying my best for speech therapy but not getting anywhere I keep getting told to wait until I get a call to talk about him first and it's so frustrating. He starts nursery in September- he's 2 next month so can't start till then

It's frustrating I know. I really don't think your HV should be dismissing you. They all learn at different rates and sometimes watch and wait inappropriate but what you're describing would be about where my dd (who I'd say is about average) could do before she was 1. I would put your concerns in writing so it's on record and ask at the absolute least that his 2Y check is done as a matter of urgency. I would talk to your GP if you get nowhere with HV and see if there's an option to self refer to speech tx and for hearing test in your area. Good luck xx

I agree with @Jannt86 – that sounds like a significant delay in the amount of language he understands, and they really ought to be giving him speech and language support if nothing else. If he understood a lot, but just wasn't saying much, I'd understand a wait and see approach at not quite two.

Some places used to have speech and language drop-in sessions, so it might be worth seeing if you're in one of those areas, and if they're doing anything at the moment given covid. They might at least have a different person for you to contact.

Another thing you might do is look at the Ages and Stages Questionnaires and see how he does on those. If you tell the HV or GP he's scoring in the black on the communication section, it might help get their attention. The 24 month one is here, www.iow.nhs.uk/Downloads/Health%20Visiting_School%20Nursing/ASQ-3%2024%20Month.pdf, but you might also want to look at the 22 month one ( media.gosh.nhs.uk/documents/ASQ-3_22_month.pdf ), as he's still near the beginning of the age range for the 24 month one. You can find them all online, so if necessary you could go back through the different ages (every two months) to find where his communication skills are.

@Jannt86 Thank you🥺 x

@skkyelark Looking at those questionnaires he is so far behind it's worrying. The only thing he exceeds in at the moment is his gross motor skills I'm going to call today again and like @Jannt86 said if I have no luck I will call the doctors. I'm so exhausted from worrying all the time now🥺

So sorry OP. Didn't say this to upset you just to emphasise that I don't think you're being over fussy to want this looking into soon. Plenty of children are loke this at this age then go on to catch up so don't panic xx

@JadeM1

Hi I'm just after a little advice as I have contacted my HV about my 2 year old boy having Autism and described the things he does/doesn't do and I feel as if I was just told to wait basically for his next check ups and left totally in the dark again. I was wondering if any parents with autistic children could advise me if they think he could possibly have it? -He doesn't speak at all, he makes a lot of noises and tries to copy sounds (he did say mama dada baba but stopped and wasn't saying them directly to us they were just noises to him) -He does stimming a lot by spinning round in circles and flapping his hands when he's excited and also throws himself back multiple times when he's sitting on the sofa -When he's frustrated he will sit on the floor and bang his head off the floor -He responds to his name very rarely and only understands 'come here, up, kiss, bye, drink' -He maintains eye contact, smiles and giggles, wants to play with us and other children and is good around other people even if it's the first time meeting them

I'm sorry this is so long! Any advice or questions welcome, thank you for taking the time to read this!

You should go to your GP. This makes me so angry when HV do this. I had concerns about my son from 13 months the HV wouldn't listen so I went to my GP. My son turns 2 on Monday and we're on the pathway to a diagnosis of Autism, verbally confirmed by 2 Drs now. There's a Facebook group you can join called Autism parents UK. It has lots of info on it. From what you have described I would call the GP. Try not to worry, once you have the right support things will feel less scary. You need to be very pushy that's what I have learnt. Xxx

@Jannt86 No honestly don't apologise I'm so grateful that you have commented and advised me with things! Had a conversation with another HV about an hour ago and we are waiting for the community health visitors near me to observe him and do a development review so hopefully I will know more when that happens, thank you again! Xx

@BAST1 Thank you I will join that group now! What has your GP done if you don't mind me asking? -We have been told now that he will be observed soon and we are waiting for the community health visitors to get in touch but obviously if they don't and it's another shrug off then I will take him to the GP xx

[quote JadeM1]@BAST1 Thank you I will join that group now! What has your GP done if you don't mind me asking? -We have been told now that he will be observed soon and we are waiting for the community health visitors to get in touch but obviously if they don't and it's another shrug off then I will take him to the GP xx[/quote]
The GP made referrals to audiologist, community paediatrician and Speech therapy (speech therapy has been awful so we have had to go private) the community paediatrician is the main person you need a referral too. There's long waiting lists for everything. Have you got a local offer website. Your local authority should be able to help you too. Give them a call and they can hopefully allocate you a support worker. We were lucky as I have a local authority nursery on my door step who specialises in special education needs so they helped a lot with the LA. Private message me if you need any help xx

[quote JadeM1]@BAST1 Thank you I will join that group now! What has your GP done if you don't mind me asking? -We have been told now that he will be observed soon and we are waiting for the community health visitors to get in touch but obviously if they don't and it's another shrug off then I will take him to the GP xx[/quote]
Also to add not saying your son has autism but if you have concerns you need to push the professionals. Does your son point to objects or show joint attention? So for example if he points at something does he look back at you? This was the biggest sign for me as my son doesn't point as well as no eye contact, not responding to name. My son regressed socially too so I just knew something was wrong. Have you done the m chat test? If you google you can do it then take to your gp the results xx

@BAST1 Could you message me? I'm not sure how to message you privately on this haha xx

[quote JadeM1]@BAST1 Could you message me? I'm not sure how to message you privately on this haha xx[/quote]
I thought you could PM on here but can't seem to find it either. Sorry x

@BAST1 That's ok don't worry haha. My son can point at things he wants and he will grab my hand and put it near/on what he wants and look at me for approval. I've never had concerns about eye contact or socialising really apart from his speech xx

@BAST1 I have done the m-chat test and scored 4 which is medium risk I think

[quote JadeM1]@BAST1 That's ok don't worry haha. My son can point at things he wants and he will grab my hand and put it near/on what he wants and look at me for approval. I've never had concerns about eye contact or socialising really apart from his speech xx[/quote]
That's a really good sign your son shows joint attention and is good socially. My son hand leads everywhere, can say words, do his alphabet, count but doesn't give eye contact, no shared attention and children don't exist in his world. My sons understanding is very poor, if I said get shoes he wouldn't but can say shoes if he's picking them up. Maybe he has a language delay but as he scored medium risk it's definitely worth speaking to the GP for speech therapy and a hearing test. Xx

@BAST1 My son has a lack of understanding too, he wouldn't be able to get me his shoes or if I say 'ball' and point he follows my finger but he doesn't know that I'm referring to the ball if that makes sense? -With the hearing test I think he can hear perfectly fine...the minute I open anything he comes running haha so I don't think it's his hearing but is it worth to do it anyway?x

I hope looking at the questionnaires wasn't too hard. I've just noticed, partly from stories on this board, that showing that a child is scoring in the black on the ASQ can help get the ball rolling. I suppose it makes it more objective, not just a parent fretting.

Anyhow, very good that he should be reviewed soon. If you find you're getting brushed off again, perhaps have his father come to the GP as well. It isn't right, but some people do find the GP suddenly takes the problem more seriously when it's Dad expressing concern, not just Mum.

I think the advice is to always check hearing because it's surprisingly difficult to tell day to day if a young child has hearing loss and glue ear is quite common –and easily treatable. A child with hearing loss might be able to hear some sounds but not others, so packet of biscuits opening might be easy, but speech might be all muffled or half the sounds missing.

@skkyelark Yeah once I'd called the health visitor today and said I've looked through the questionnaire already and he's in the black and grey areas it made her realise I think that I'm not being paranoid about his development. Oh ok I will make sure he gets a hearing test then and yes his dad will be there with me at the development review and will be there if we have to see the GP as well x