Autism or is it possible he's neurological

[Henachoko]

Hi all,

Bit of a long post. Please bare with. I have some concerns with my 7 month and 3 week olds social and communication development.

I'll be making an appointment with my GP to discuss. What I hoping for with this post is for a parent to tell me, yes that was my child but they turned out neurotypical. Is there anyone that can reassure me?

Im a FTM so new to babies and I know he's young but my gut it telling me somethings not right.

List of concerns;

• Doesn't repeat sounds back despite encouragement (me copying his sounds, me making a sound and pausing etc)
• Doesn't copy movements (hand clapping etc)
• Very vocal but doesn't babble
• Shakes head from side to side (stimming?)
• Doesn't respond to name (10% of the time he will) even if I'm sat opposite, he's not distracted and I'm looking at him calling his name. (Hearing is fine) This is despite me working on this for 2 months
• Poor eye contact - e.g If he's sat on my lap opposite me, he won't look at me. He looks everywhere else. There's only a handful of instances in the day where he looks at me making eye contact and having an actual interaction with me
• Doesn't recognise a closed mouth smile - expressions have to be big
• Highly movement seeking Bed time always involves huge amounts of movements and fuss. Ramming his head into the matress or pillows or me and coming up on tiptoes. Rolling around. Climbing on me. It doesn't seem to calm him. I think he would get more and more upset with no intervention from me.
• He tends to have blank expressions. People have commented on how serious he is. He does smile but it's not often.
• He will happily play alone for 1 hour if I leave him.
• He flits from toy to toy getting distracted by another toy before he's even put his hand on the first one
• He doesn't seem to need me or anyone else unless hes very upset (teething, bonked his head).
• Doesn't ever indicate he wants to be picked up.
• Isn't affectionate - doesn't want cuddles
• He's very intense- loud vocalisations, body stiffening and grunting, furiously kicking legs

It may be too early developemntally for these but:

• He doesnt point
• Doesn't show shared attention
• Won't follow me pointing, even if I've got his eye contact and then look at the thing I'm pointing to as well

Praying someone can dispel some of my fears.

Thanks
X

Neurotypical not neurological! Damn phone

He’s only 7 months. Autism is not diagnosed until much later and a lot of behaviour that is displayed by autistic children is also totally normal baby and toddler behaviour like what you describe as stimming. Nothing there sounds concerning to me.

Most of the behaviours you've listed I wouldn't expect a 7 month old to be doing. It's not stimming at that age either. Stop worrying!

If he's still doing this all at 15 months then perhaps then have a little discussion with the GP, but for now relax and enjoy your perfectly normal developing baby.

I agree that a lot of it does sound like normal baby behaviour.

Do you mix with any other babies of a similar age and does your baby behave noticeably differently?

How does he score in the 6 month Social & Emotional Ages & Stages?

Thank you for the link. Maybe I've done it wrong as he scored 145 and it says referal appropriate if score over 45. That seems like too mulch of a discrepancy.

I go to baby groups and he seems different in the sense that he only explores toys with his mouth. He's not really engaging with toys in any other way. Other babies seem much more sociable. They will look around the room at others or try to interact with other babies at times. My boy doesn't have interest in anyone else unless they have something he wants or if they initiate and get his attention.

Ok so if that’s his score I would also fill in the 8 month Ages & Stages and call me your HV. Tell her your concerns and ask her to assess home using both of the forms that I’ve linked to.

It may be that you have made a mistake with scoring but it’s best to get it checked by your HV.

If the score is right you could ask for a referral to a Paediatrician to try and find out what’s going on. I’d also ask for a referral to Portage and a hearing test.

It may be that your HV wants to keep an eye on him instead of referring him straight to a Paediatrician. If she wants to do that i would ask her to make an appointment with you for the week her turns 9 months as there is another Ages & Stages at 9 months and your HV will be able to compare the two and see what progress he is making

You've been really helpful. I appreciate it Bunny, thank you x

It is absolutely no problem. Let us know how you get on with the HV

To update - I was sent an ASQ for 8 months (covers from 7 months to 8 months and 30 days). I'm going to fill this out and then the HV will contact me at 9 months for an early review where she will carry out the next ASQ and we can compare.

I had a fairly long chat with the HV about our concerns and although the HV seemed to think ASD was a fair possibility, at least where I live, there's an extended period of monitoring before any referrals are sent for assessment so I imagine it will be a lot of questionnaires for the first 2 years of his life before any significant movement.

Praying it doesn't come to anything but what will be will be I suppose.
I'll try to remember to update this thread once we know difinitvly either way for any future worried mums.

You can still ask for a hearing test, Portage and possibility an OT referral but I’d wait a bit on the last one.

DLA is based on needs rather than diagnosis so you should be able to apply for that. The helpful MNers in the SN Children Section should be able to help you more

Hey @Henachoko,
following as I have concerns with my baby who’s a similar age too.
please could you update us on how your LO is getting on? Do you still have concerns or has he developed further and so are no longer as worried?
my biggest concern is eye contact (my LO gives zero eye contact - never has)