Advice for Autism

[Concernedparents24]

My son is 17 months old. He doesn't point to things that interest him nor does he speak. He has only just started pointing to things in books when asked.He does babble but I don't feel like he babbles to us. He sometimes claps his hands and does hi 5. He also puts his hands out to be picked up. However he doesn't nod or shake his head for no or yes. He also doesn't copy actions me and my partner do for example wheels on the bus or try to copy sounds we make. He does make eye contact but I just feel it's maybe not what would be expected. He has been walking since before 1 and I've never noticed him walking on tip toes. He doesn't seem concerned by lights,sound or texture and he eats different foods well. Has any one else ever experienced this and what was the course of action/ outcome

Sounds very similar to my son who is 16 months. I’ve never felt a reason to worry about autism 🤷🏻‍♀️
I think generally things that might be more of an indication of possible autism would be walking on tip toes, no eye contact, repetitive behaviour eg lining toys up, or always spinning things or only interested in one toy etc.
I don’t think anything you’ve listed indicates autism.
It’s good to keep an eye on how he’s doing of course, but personally I wouldn’t be worried from the information you’ve given.
With his speech - my son was walking at 9 months, he doesn’t really say any proper words yet (he kind of tries to say things but everything sounds like ‘da’). But my HV said a few months ago that often babies who are early in physical milestones eg walking, can be slower with things like communication because they’ve focused so much on other stuff.

Thank you for the reply. My son does a similar thing with words just sounding like da. Yeah he doesn't line up toys or spin the wheels on his cars. Also tends to go from one toy to the next after a couple of minutes. Yeah we phoned our health visitor but she was on holiday this week so waiting on a phone call Monday for her opinion. If you don't mind me asking does your son point at things and wave hi or bye and if not what did your health visitor say?

He waves bye most of the time, but never waves hello. I think it’s partly shyness though - like when we are in public people in shops interact with him and want him to wave or smile, but he’ll just stare at them. I also wouldn’t want to wave or smile at a stranger who suddenly started talking to me to be honest.
He points at things in books like if we say where’s the mouse, then he’ll point it out, but he won’t point at a dog on the street. He also doesn’t always follow when we point at something.
Does he interact with other children? I know they’re a bit young to really be playing together yet, but my son will often try to give other children a toy he’s playing with. Or if there’s an older child he will watch what they’re doing and sometimes try to copy.
Also, does he follow instructions? Like do you know he can understand what you’re saying and then take action on it? If you ask him to get a certain toy can he do that etc?
Hopefully your HV will be able to reassure you some more

Yeah my son points to things in books on request but doesn't always get it correct. He closes doors when we ask and will get certain toys or books when we ask him to. He'll go up to other kids and touch them then laugh or smile.

If you're going to speak to the HV anyway, I'd fill in the 18 month Ages & Stages and ask her to mark it for you.

I think the very least I'd want is a hearing test for your DS. The HV might also be able to tell you about some local groups for DC with a little speech delay

@Concernedparents24 Hi there wondering if you have an update on your little one now?