Hi everyone,
I appreciate there are a lot of posts around like this and I need to speak to my HV about my concerns but wondering if anyone can set my mind at ease.
I am wondering if my nearly 17 month old is displaying signs of autism. It’s mainly to do with his speech and some behaviours. His speech is poor and probably know about five words in total but uses them very inconsistently. He doesn’t babble an awful lot; lots of grunting instead and he makes this awful na-na-nahhhh noise at things he wants that are out of his reach.
He knows the actions to a lot of nursery rhymes and will do the actions without me prompting. He loves books and turns pages himself. He will point to things in books and can point out a couple of different animals if I ask him. He is attempting to mimic some animal noises but mainly just roars like a tiger for all animals :)
He can use a spoon well to eat his meals, and on the whole eats very well. He also sleeps well too. He pushes along cars, can build towers, and can wave/give kisses when prompted but it’s inconsistent and always on his terms.
He does respond to his name but again it’s inconsistent but I don’t know if it’s because he’s so headstrong he just chooses to ignore me. He’s usually only affectionate /cuddly when tired or poorly and he’s rarely pleased to see anyone. He sometimes will sit and play with his big sister but he’s very indifferent about her and other children. He is terrible around the dog and will kick him if he’s in his way (don’t worry I’m very careful about it!). He is obsessed with cupboard doors and runs around opening and shutting them.
I’m probably overreacting but my daughter at this age was so sociable and chatty and he just feels like the polar opposite. He seems frustrated a lot of the time with lots of shouting and yelling, perhaps because he can’t communicate his needs, and he’s just overall quite hard work.