Worried about my now 3 Yr old

[WorriedMama92]

He has some big emotions and definitely shows us when he is happy or sad/angry.
He can get very excited/hyper when he is in a good mood, but can have meltdowns and start hitting out if something doesn't go his way (like us having to leave the park)
I look and think I hardly ever see any other child his age act this way to this extent...
I have always had in the back of my head that he could be on the spectrum.
There are some things that make me think this....including what I have mentioned..others include

• Likes watching things like wheels moving, balls bouncing, sometimes gets close to tv to see something pass on the TV
• He isn't great at remembering things...always says boy, girl, lady when talking about anyone (doesn't remember names)

-prefers adults to play with instead of children, but is very sociable

• when speaking to him or asking questions. Some things he says is like he has repeated it from what we say and can't always answer simple questions...example: when I ask him what he did at Nursery, he says...mmm toys.

-when we went on holiday he loved watching the waves and was almost showing stimming behaviour...tight fists and moving his legs whilst standing

Am I thinking too much into this....or is this behaviour from a child on the spectrum?

Anyone else have this with their toddlers?

Hi, replying partly as a bump for you as I see you've not had any other responses yet. I don't have much experience in this area and my toddler is slightly younger than yours, but some of the behaviours you've described sound like normal toddler behaviour eg my toddler doesn't volunteer much info about his day at nursery.

Have you asked nursery what they think about it? On the surface, things like a crying, flailing meltdown on leaving the park or getting hyper when excited are still well within the range of standard 3 year old behaviour. You say, though, that he seems just that bit more than other 3 year olds you see. Nursery see so many children, a good, experience nursery staff member often has an excellent sense of when development is in the usual range, and when something needs looking into.

Watching balls and wheels – a bit of this is very common (a spinning top is a classic toy for a reason!). If he does it a lot, that's more concerning.

Not remembering names – are these people he sees and interacts with a lot (which would concern me), or more distant (which wouldn't; I'd just assume that remembering Great Aunt Sarah isn't a priority for him)?

Playing with adults over children, a lot hinges the details, although learning to play with peers is good to encourage regardless. Preferring adults because they always let you choose the game/be your favourite character/similar is different from preferring adults because you struggle to manage the back-and-forth of cooperative play and need them to do most of it.

With the questions, not saying much about nursery is common. What about things like 'What do you want for snack?' or 'Shall we go to the park or the library?' or 'Which book shall we read?'

Hi, i just wondered how things were? Im in a very similar position and really struggling with the worry x