Could we be looking at Autism? Help

[Hellohellomrt]

I would so apreciate some thoughts on my son who is nearly 2.5.

I've raised these things with our HV at his 2 year check but she has shrugged them off and as my son gets older certain behaviours are becoming a little more obvious so any help/guidance or thoughts would be great as I'm considering seeing a peadatrician privately for a diagnosis if it's needed.

I'll list a few behaviours that to me don't seem typical:-

1. He head bangs - when angry/frustrated and also when trying to soothe himself back to sleep (this has been going on about a year - ao not sure it's a 'phase'.
2. Uses some repetitive behaviours such as rocking on the sofa back and fourth, running from kitchen to living room back and fourth.
3. Never been overly interested in toys but the last 6 months or so has become interested in cars and this is the only thing that really holds his attention for any amount of time. He will role play a little but its not something he does much of.
4. Speech is really good - nursery say he can put together 4-5 word sentences etc but I have noticed that he recites sentences from books etc and seems to fixate on certain books for a few weeks, then on to next book. He also does the same wkth songs, seems to be able to memorise nursery rhymes very quickly.
5. He plays quite a bit on his own- nursery have said that's fine for his age but they are going to start encouraging more interactive play with other children.
6. He uses a comforter and is very attached. He has a melt down if we don't bring it with us anywhere.

There is more bur for now that's all I can think of.

Any thoughts?

Hi @Hellohellomrt just wanted to offer my sympathies as we had an equally "helpful and supportive" HV.

I think from what you've posted, it would hurt to do a SLT progress checker as it covers understanding, not just speech.

It will tell you if he needs some SLT support and they even gave a helpline.

Stimming, not playing with toys and meltdowns could all be his age but you're right, they could be signs of ASD too.

What's your gut feeling on this? Have you done the M-Chat test?

@PritiPatelsMaker thank you so much for your really helpful reply.

It's so hard because the HV when she saw him said because he's making eye contact with her she wasn't concerned, from what I've seen/read of other people's experiences its not just about eye contact and being social.

I've done the Mchat a few times and always score really low to he honest.

I've not done the SLT things so will take a look at the link you've posted, thank you.

My gut feeling is that there is something more, I'm a first time mum though so don't really have anything to compare to. When I mention to family they all just shrug it off and say I'm being silly- because his language is pretty good I guess, with regard to things like head banging and self regulation everyone just says it's a toddler thing and they are all different.

He's been at nursery for a year, the first one were not very good at feeding back so never heard of any concerns, he started at pre-school in January and they are very good, he's had his 2 year check with them and the only thing raised was gross motor (he doesn't like climbing) but think that's because we've not spent much time at the park/softplay etc. He walked at 14 months and loves walking etc, climbs our stairs at home well so not sure there's any issues there really other than us needing to go to park more...

I think the speech can be a bit misleading as some DC with ASD can be hyoerlexic. I'd definitely do the SKT progress checker and see what that says.

It's good that he scores low on the MChat although I know it's not always accurate

Thank you. This is what I had read about speech being a bit misleading. I'll have a look at the link you posted :) thank you for your help. 😍