Concerns of autism in 14 month baby

[Mommymoment]

Hi all, hope someone can shed some light on my situation, my 14 year old son has be quite concerned recently. He does not respond to his name 9/10 times, the only time he does respond is if he is unoccupied in his cot he may look up, however when he is watching tv or busy with his toys, you can die calling his name in whatever tone you want, he will not respond.

Also he spins things...he spins the wheel on his toy cars, his sisters toy pushchair, he spins a toy plate on the floor. When he goes to my mums house, the first thing he will go for is a toy wheelbarrow which he loves to spin the wheel. He hates bath time and cries all the way through. But he is fine with touching and messing with water otherwise. It's just bath time he hates.

The things he does do are clap when you tell him to. He can tell when he is going out and waves when he puts his jacket on, he waves when people leave. He likes peekaboo and copies the actions and says boo. He can pretend feed people if you say 'ahh' and open your mouth. He can put his hand on his head for 'head, shoulders, knees and toes', he can also do all the actions for wheels on the bus and does the actions before as he anticipates it. For eg. If I say 'the horn on the bus goes...' he does the actions before I say 'beep, beep, beep'. He can give kisses when you tell him to. He is a very cuddly boy. His eye contact is good.

Just the name thing, spinning obsession and fear of baths really worrying me. When he is occupied with something, esp the tv, he just won't look at anyone, regardless of how many times you say his name or make loud noises. Anyways...if anyone has any insight it would be really helpful. x

[CadyEastman]

I think if I were you I would be concerned about him not responding to his name but it could simply be his hearing. You could do this simple progress checker. If it says he needs some support you could ask your HV for a hearing test?

Did he have a 12 month check with his HV? Were any areas highlighted where he might need support?

[Mommymoment]

@CadyEastman I dont think it is his hearing tbh because he is quite alert at other noises, he will turn when it's a subtle noise of a jumping chick toy we have...sounds like a cricket, but when I'm quite loudly and clearly saying his name he will ignore. However today he was playing with a toy...spinning it 🙄 I called him and he looked and smiled. This was when there were no other distractions and no TV playing.

The health visitors are the most USELESS people in any profession in my personal opinion...and they have not yet even sent me any information for a one year review. I think I will get in touch though.

[MotherOfDragon20]

The spinning thing wouldn’t concern me too much at this age unless he is doing it constantly and can’t be distracted from it, look at every fisher price or vtech toy and you will notice they all have a spinny bit to them, there’s a reason for that, young babies love them! My baby occasion spins wheels on his sisters toy pram but no more than he plays with anything else, will do it for a minute or two then move on to something else. The name thing, yeah ok could be something but he is still very young, I would keep an eye on it and maybe get his hearing checked. Otherwise I would say he sounds on track.

[Mommymoment]

@MotherOfDragon20 yeah I think I will get his hearing checked. Just to add though...he can hear the key turn and runs to the front door, so I really don't think it's a hearing issue. Today when my husband came home from work, he heard the key turn from the living room and went to the front door, he smiled and my husband picked him up...once he was being carried my husband called his name several times in a sing song tone, normal tone, he even said hellooo, but he didn't look at my husband's face once. It is just so bizarre.

Later on in the evening, me, my husband and brother in law tried experimenting by calling his name several times, clapping, clicking our tongues and nothing, not even a glance...he was just walking around the room in his own world, playing with his toys. He then looked at us and smiled and gave eye contact, but not when we called him.

When I leave the room and he is 'playing' or even watching tv, if i hide in another room and say 'Adam...come here' he will come to the room and giggle.

Also earlier in the day he played ball with me for about 10 seconds and rolled it to me and enjoyed that. I just don't get why he persistently won't respond to his name or anything really when I am present in the room with him. I'm so confused and don't know what to make of it.

[CadyEastman]

I never found my HV to be of much use either unfortunately, in fact some of the "information" she gave out was downright dangerous.

He's a bit old for the 12 month check. The link to the 14 month check is here and there's also a Social & Emotional Ages & Stages here.

You can fill them in and score them yourself or you can ask the HV again for your 12 month check and get her to mark them. Have you been to the weigh in clinic recently? Maybe you could ask there about the 12 month check?

[Mommymoment]

@CadyEastman thanks for the questionnaire...he scored well for every other section I think. Just the communication section is on the low end. He does enjoy social interaction and shares his enjoyment with people by looking up and smiling when he is happy or excited. I think I will contact the HV for more insight and advice on how to tackle the lack of response to names/sounds.