13 Month old - atypical development?

[Charlotte0290]

Good evening,
I’ve noticed a few things about my 13month old’s behaviour that I am questioning whether they are atypical

-for context she is hyper mobile and therefore delayed with gross motor skills (not crawling, shuffling, pulling up, cruising, unable to weight bear through legs). I know this can be a marker for ASD etc but equally could be something standalone. These are the other factors:

• notices tiny details of things, eg picks up a single crumb amongst toys
• is frightened of babies her age when they approach her (cries and puts arms out to me), prefers interacting with adults
• sensitive to loud / sudden sounds eg cries if someone sneezes
• gets obsessed with certain games or a page of a book and wants the same song or page or sound over and over and over (although I realise repetitive games is one way they learn)
• generally responds to her name but not always
• points for things she wants but not always convinced this is to share interest / doesn’t look back at me

on the flip side, she is a smiley happy girl, imitates actions / signs, initiates games eg peekaboo, waves, gives kisses, fine motor skills are great. Comprehends a range of words / commands and has a few words that mean something and a couple of animal sounds

spoke to HV at one year check which wasn’t overly helpful (was the HV assistant ) said that I could speak to GP but this was more in relation to gross motor skills. I’m not sure if there is much they will do at this age but equally I know early intervention is important if I am right to be concerned. I also have a sibling with ASD so I’m not a complete novice in this area but I don’t know whether I’m over analysing because of this

any insights welcomed!
thanks

How did she score in the 12 month check @Charlotte0290?

At the moment, there's nothing glaring there to me (besides the gross motor, but you know about that), but obviously it can be a matter of degree or a bunch of small quirks adding up to something bigger.

Notices tiny details – I would say normal, as long as she also plays with things as a whole, e.g, notices the textured bit of the blocks, but also bashes them together or stacks them, sometimes spins the wheels of the toy car, but also pushes it along the floor.

Frightened of other babies – depends on her exposure to them, but even a baby taken to baby groups regularly can have a funny phase.

Sensitive to sudden or loud noises – quite common, hand dryer are a particularly common one, but depends on how extreme the distress is, how wide a range of noises are a problem (and if she becomes more able to handle it with time).

Repetition – very common, as you know, but a question of degree. Is it 20 minutes or 2 hours, how often does the obsession change, are they 'typical' interests for the age?

Name response – when she doesn't respond, is she busy? Babies this age can't multitask their attention, so if she's absorbed in doing something, she effectively won't hear you.

Pointing – if she's pointing to request at 13 months, that's very good (and probably slightly earlier than average). Pointing to share interest may well emerge in the next couple of months.

She sounds lovely, however it turns out.

@Charlotte0290

my DS now just turned 16m had done some worrying things .

loved spinning wheels on cars , buggy’s anything that had a wheel really. he doesn’t do it much anymore but as said above he also pushed them along the floor and said vroom vroom.

he was sensitive to noise also cried at hoovers , drills , hand dryers , people sneezing etc but he’s so much better with them now he actually chases the hoover about laughing while I’m cleaning and loves switching the button on and off lol

my DS also went through a stage of not liking other children and smacking them crying if my sister came round with her two boys ( similar ages ) but I worked out it was because they both walked and my ds didn’t once he started walking he loves my sisters boy coming round now and actually walks about with them shows lots of interest in them sits down next to them and play , kisses them all the time.

as for pointing this one still worries me slightly he started pointing at 15 months but only to things of interest like his ball , some things on shop shelves, some random things sometimes but he’s not a massive pointer and he doesn’t yet point to requests things he wants!

0 in the gross motor but the other areas were all fine :)

@skkyelark thank you for your comprehensive reply - which has made me reflect on some of my concerns

She does play with toys normally too, eg bashing together, putting shapes in holes, loves an activity cube etc.

Babies - she goes to groups twice a week. I wondered whether part of it is that she can’t get away as doesn’t have the same mobility they do. Not sure, I suppose time will tell here!

Interests I would say is typical it is mostly around looking at books / cards and she wants me to sing certain things, eg wheels on the bus if she points at a wheel. She also likes to point to / grab my ear, hair, nose and those of anyone else around her, over and over. I’m not really sure how long she would maintain this interest as I tend to distract her with something else to break the chain!

and yes she’s usually occupied with something when I call her name.

@Raeleigh24 thank you for sharing - I’m glad to hear that you have noticed improvements with things like the sounds and socialising with his cousins, that’s reassuring to know. I hope the pointing continues to develop with time