Autism or speech/language delay

[jam230730]

Hi All, I’m hoping somebody may be able to share any experiences they have with toddlers development.
My son is about to turn 3 in June. Normal pregnancy and delivery but at 2 weeks old had ecoli infection and was hospitalised on antibiotics for 7 days (oral antibiotics till he 6months until all clear and discharged from paeds) other than reflux and not a great sleeper generally a well baby.
He seemed to hit all of his milestones crawling walking smiling babbling etc.saying
mama and dada at the correct stages. I’ve always noticed he was lacking in speech but just assumed he’d catch up to help with this we started him in play group in September (3 months after his 2nd birthday) hoping engagement with others would help.
he can say multiple words I’d say 50/60 and use them in the right context (although this always seems mood dependent and sometimes won’t say many of them for days at a time) and he does hand lead us when he wants something he will talk to me asif we are having a full blown conversation but it’s absolute gibberish and I will play along also Sometimes he will do exactly as he is told “sit down while I put your shoes on/sit at your table for dinner” only basic. in Feb nursery raised concerns that he doesn’t really acknowledge other children doesn’t use much imaginative play and doesn’t respond to his name basically just trashes the toys and lacks understanding.” So she has an assessor from the local senco team coming to nursery on the 1st of may
He’s passed 3 x hearing and after a chat with HV who has referred him to speech therapy (we was told wait list was 9/12 months) we had took him to a private speech therapist who says she sees symptoms of autism. When she assessed she gave us tips on increasing his eye contact and this has really worked nursery actually commented on this change. Tips on how to distract him from what he is currently doing so he shares his attention and tips on getting him to respond to his name! hes due to see her again next week.
im sorry for the huge post but basically what I’m trying to get at is that I do agree he shows some signs of autism but I would also class these as general toddler/young behaviours am I being naive and missing something? Or could he just be a stubborn boy that will talk when he’s ready? Hopefully someone has some advice

i mean this kindly, if these were regular toddler behaviour then it wouldn’t have come to the attention of the Nursery staff. They definitely wouldn’t have approached you or ask SENCO to assess him either. They see multiple DC every day and they are telling you that the behaviour of your DS is different to the others

The assessment process for ASD is just that, it’s an assessment. If he doesn’t have ASD then he won’t get a diagnosis.

The waiting lists for assessment are also long so it’s in your interests to get him on the Pathway as soon as possible.

Did the HV do anything other than the SaLT referral?

Did she for instance do either of these assessments:

33 month Ages & Stages

or the 3 year Social & Emotional Ages & Stages?

If not, could you fill them in and score them? There are usually MNers around who can help you understand the scores.

Depending on how he scores, you may need to ask to see the HV again and insist on a referral to a Paediatrician for Assessment.

If the HV wants to adopt the “wait & see” approach remind her that you’ve already been seeing a Private SaLT who has mentioned ASD and Nursery have concerns too and you would like the referral making. If she still tries to put you off ask her to make another appointment for the week of his third Birthday so that she can see how he’s doing then. The trouble is that if you don’t push, he might very well get ignored.

Let us know how you get on with the assessments

I don’t know if you’re aware but you can apply for an ECHP before diagnosis as it’s based in needs rather than diagnosis. Some of the lovely MNers in the SN Children Section can point you in the right direction for applying.

Same with DLA