Almost 8mo baby showing (possible) Autism traits?

[Pinkwinks35]

Hi all

First time mum here so please be kind. I know early intervention can be so important with ND conditions but obviously too early right now, so just keeping tabs on things and hoping for support/advice. I have a few concerns about my almost 8mo and wondered if others have had similar experiences.
For the last month or so I’ve noticed my boy will stiffen his arms, legs and jaw/face accompanied by a strange straining noise. It sort of looks like a spasm that lasts a few seconds and he always does this when eating, throughout the mealtime. Also does it when excited and often when in his car seat and I’m driving. It’s getting to the extent that others now notice and point it out. Other concerns are he often stares into space and when I think he’s giving me eye contact if I move my face to the side his eyes don’t follow me and remain fixed in the same position but staring into space because my face is no longer in front of him. I have to clap and make nose to get his attention again. He sometimes responds to his name but never when engrossed with a toy, even if we shout his name and make all sorts of noises to grab his attention. He doesn’t seem to like cuddles and will often arch his back away, push away with his hands. He also opens and closes his hands a lot, and moves his ankles around, basically he’s never still and someone commented he looks like a little bird flapping his arms and always moving. It’s also tricky to have him imitate our noises, he’ll do this very occasionally. In terms of gestures he’s not clapping his hands, waving, doesn’t put arms up to be held etc, I’m hoping this will come soon. He has always been sensitive to sounds; even when I clap gently he will flinch/blink. I’m aware these things can be typical, but the frequency and intensity of them worries me.
Some positives are

1. he smiles in response to others smiling and did this from around 6 weeks
2. on track with rolling, crawling, and his fine motor skills
3. does babble
4. tracks objects well

For background context he was emergency c section and I had a pregnancy related liver condition when I was having him. He was not premature.

Any advice helpful, at this point im just wondering if it’s best to just watch and wait for now. Thanks in advance.

You ate right in saying that it's probably too early to tell. You're also right that early intervention can help.

How does he do with this simple SLT progress checker?

It’s way too early to tell. I went down that rabbit hole with my son. Now at 12 months old, he points, waves, claps and has 3-5 words and good receptive language. Whereas I was sure he had autism just a few months ago, he really changed so so much in just a short amount of time.

You're right @Fmlgirl. A lot of signs of ASD can be completely age appropriate behaviour for a baby.

Thanks for including the progress checker. It didn’t have a check for 8 months (he’s 8.5 months) so I went for 9 months. There were a few things he’s not doing yet like pointing, waving, and consistently responding to his name. I suppose for now it’s just a waiting game and trying to bring out these skills as best I can.

Thanks for sharing your experience, it’s reassuring to hear how quickly things can change. I’m deep in the rabbit hole at the moment. He’s doing the stiffening and hand movements/flapping more often now and as of yet he’s not doing any social gestures at all except for smiling and inconsistent eye contact. Can I ask what things made you feel autism was possible?

@Pinkwinks35 i had really really severe post natal anxiety, I also thought he had cerebral palsy and certain muscle disorders at some point so really really don’t go by my experience. I wanted to highlight that he really changed so much. I really don’t want other mums to feel like I felt.

when I was also deep in the rabbit hole, I hyper-
focussed on mainly the following:

• rocking in his high chair (doesn’t do that anymore)
• rubbing feet on carpet (hardly hardly ever does that anymore)
• definitely loves objects,toys and can play for ages by himself with things such as shape sorters and ring stackers
• Didn’t have any gestures apart from pointing to request a few months ago. Only started clapping at 11 months and waving recently
• he doesn’t like cuddling or being touched all that much
• can be picky with his food. I think it’s a texture thing rather than flavours but he’s also teething molars

It sounds like you had a really tough time of it. I can definitely relate to the anxiety and hyper focusing. When you start looking for traits it seems like they’re everywhere! Thanks again for sharing your experiences, it’s really helpful to get parent perspectives.

Thanks for including the progress checker. It didn’t have a check for 8 months (he’s 8.5 months) so I went for 9 months.

I think the website says to do the one down not the one up? So it would be the 6 month progress checker?

@Pinkwinks35 how is your little one now?

@Pinkwinks35 hi. How is your son doing now?

@Pinkwinks35 would love an update pls? Similar concerns with my LO

There are no traits a child would show at 8 months that would indicate whether they will be autistic or not.