Could my DD 21 months have Autism?

[Littlemiss82]

Hi All,

I know, huge question that no one could possibly answer over the internet, but I would love some opinions please as I’m feeling very worried and stressed about DD. I think my worries are exacerbated as my DS is 5 and has HFA.

Things she does that worry me-

• Walks on her toes a free times per day, sometimes both feet sometimes just one foot. Is able to walk with flat feet the majority of the time though.
• sometimes flaps her hands when she’s excited.
• turns her head to the side, usually the right when walking, maybe sideways glancing. She has done this on and off over the last few months, and can go a while not doing it.
• has lots of words, but her speech is very unclear, sometimes more of a sound or intimidation/approximation than a word e. Thank you ‘ah ou’ and apple ‘app’
• Really fearful of strangers, will hide behind my leg or turn her head away, she used to be a lot worse but has started nursery and the crying has stopped. Wary of adults and children.
• was using a fork now decided she likes to use fingers again.

What she can do well

• waves, points, says yes/no, shakes head yes/no, claps.
• good fine motor skills
• good gross motor skills
• sometimes tells me when she wants her nappy changed.
• quite confident and independent, figures things out.

So I just wanted any opinions really. Should I be concerned or are my worries normal toddler behaviour?

Thanks
Xxx

Have you done the MChat Test? It should give you an indication if it's a possibility.

This could be my daughter. Toddlers are weird. Stranger danger fears are evolutionarily adaptive. They can't talk clearly yet - today I thought DD (also 21 months) was saying butter when she was talking about pasta (she looks at me like I'm an idiot!).

If you're worried about autism I'd be looking at developmental delays and how she reacts to people she's close to. It doesn't sound like she's got any problems there.

Hi I haven’t, where do I find that please? X

I wouldn’t say she has developmental delays other than the unclear speech.
She managed to put her PJ bottoms on last night (with some help) and peeled a tangerine herself so in that respect she’s great.
I feel like the sensory stuff stands out but I’m not sure I’m just looking for it xx

As I said before it doesn't sound to me like she has developmental delays. I am unclear what you mean by sensory stuff. If you mean practicing skills such as walking on tiptoe that's developmentally normal. My daughter also uses a mixture of hands and fork to eat, because hands are more efficient. And of course toddler speech is unclear, they've only just learnt how to talk. I understand you're anxious given your DS having autism also but these things do sound ok to me for this age group.

I could give you a long list of things my DD does which would be associated with autism in older children and I definitely have no concerns about her (I have diagnosed autism in the past so I do know what to look out for). For example, yesterday when watching a programme on trains she repeatedly said "doo doo drain" about 30 times! It's slightly annoying but normal and cute.

I really doesn't sound like she has developmental delays to me. I would be thinking a delay might look like not saying any words yet for example. And I would be looking more at whether she's making eye contact at all, how does she socialise with you, does she recognise herself in a mirror by 2 years old. There's a reason that autism is almost impossible to diagnose before 2 and that's because most of the symptoms don't emerge until after 2 or 3 because of how the brain develops.

If you have concerns it's probably best to contact your health visitor. And I wonder whether you might need some professional support around your worry? I hope that you're able to strike a balance between a good level of awareness of signs whilst being able to relax and enjoy her too. Sending you my best wishes.

This might be of use to you:

"Children diagnosed with ASD experience delayed or abnormal verbal and/or social functioning at an early age. Signs and symptoms of problems with language and social communication can include:

Delayed or absent development of spoken language, with no gestures to compensate
Inadequate attempts to begin or maintain conversations
Repetitive, stereotyped, or idiosyncratic language
The absence of social imitative play or spontaneous or “make-believe” play (relevant to the appropriate developmental stage; McHugh & Reed, 2008)"

... So for example, does your daughter point to things if she can't say the word? Does she feed her toys or imitate you? Those are things you should be looking out for.

Also, have you been tested or tested yourself? The Adult Autism Questionnaire is widely available online and gives a reasonable idea of whether you're that way inclined. I was just thinking about it because if you have autism yourself, it may be hard to gauge what her motivations are behind seemingly strange - but actually normal - behaviours.

Anyway, good luck with it all. I hope some of that is helpful.

Hi I haven’t, where do I find that please?

Do you mean the MChat test? It's linked in my post