Concerns about ASD 19 month old

[Sarahdaydreamer1234]

Hi.. I have an amazing 19 month old DD who I love to bits. I am so concerned that she is showing some traits linked to autism. I suppose I would love to hear that these are no way enough to worry and that others displayed similar at this age with no dx. The things that concern me are occasional tip toe walking, only responds to her name sometimes, not much joint awareness at all, never points to anything of interest or shows me any toys, she will pick petals and bring those to me but doesn't look at my reaction, if I ask for a kiss or cuddle or for her to do soemthing she will rarely do it which I had put down to just being strong willed (favourite word is no) . I know ASD is in no way a death sentence and have a niece who has ASD whom I adore! Myself and DH have ADHD and I've thought she might have this initially as she is very very excitable and gets really in to whatever it is she's playing with/watching on TV but only becoming aware of importance of pointing now. She is very smart and has lots of words, walks, dances, likes seeing other kids, waves, claps, eats well, will follow a point and point in to books and no sensory issues or stimming as of yet. Thanks x

I think if you're both ND it's pretty likely that DD will have some form of Neuro Diversity.

I'd start by asking your HV to do the 18 month Social and Emotional Ages & Stages.

I know that you've said that she has a lot of words but I'd still do this SLT progress checker. We totally missed that although our DD could speak, she was missing some important aspects in being able to express herself.

Thank you so much @SiouxsieSiouxStiletto how is your little one doing? both of those links are very informative. She got a yes to all the questions on the SLT which is reassuring a couple of points in the ASQ do seem to mirror my concerns around joint interest and being so engrossed in play that she doesn't respond to her name. It's so hard to switch off from it once you are concerned about soemthing, I just hope I'm not like this now for years until we know for sure. A downside of my Adhd is I over fixate on things and resreach too much.

A downside of my Adhd is I over fixate on things and resreach too much.

Tell me about it!

Your DD sounds very similar to my DS who is now 4.

I remember having all of these worries and it was awful. What I can say is that now at 4 years old he’s the most chatty, sociable, wonderful little boy ever. Loves people, loves life, and I have no concerns at all. I just want to let you know that your concerns may easily turn out to be nothing.

I have a 13 year old too and it was never like this when she was young. There seems to be so much pressure and box ticking now. Too much awareness almost.

Ps - He still tip toe walks when bare foot- as do I, and i’m a grown woman!

@VillageFete thanks so much for replying! That's great to hear your DS is doing great! I hope DD is the same and I'm worrying for nothing.. I've started to see more and more joint attention by looking up at our reaction to things she does and pointing at things this past few days so it's mainly just the toe walking and not really giving sustained eye contact or often not answering to her name which could just be her nature as she is very very busy!

Try doing an ASQ-SE for 18 months, a high score on that is what triggered my DS's referral to the pediatrician to consider ASD, it covers eye contact, social skills and attention etc more than the asq-2 seems to.

Hi how’s your dd doing now ? ☺️

@Claire123e Hi Claire, she is great thank you ! I am a lot less concerned now! She's 2.5 and very social, stopped the tip toe walking and interacts so much more with us!

☺️ I am so happy to hear that she is doing well .. hope you are doing better now and less concerned.. out of curiosity for my DD who’s 19 M, when did your DD start to emerge from what you thought were ASD traits ?

Hi @Claire123e im not 100% sure but I think from looking back after 2 but definately by 2.5 I've been a lot less concerned. Don't get me wrong she still does the odd thing that makes me think she might not be neurotypical but I'm definately not worried that she's going to struggle if that makes sense. I wish looking back I hadn't worried so much.