Autism in baby

[NJJT]

EXTREMELY WORRIED ABOUT 8M BABY BOY…

1. Always very quiet baby. Shouts, raspberries and few babbles coming but not in response to anything.
2. Settes off to sleep and wakens up without a sound. Will waken at night and lie there quiet. (could be up to 2hrs) seems oblivious to me being there.
3. Stimming with wrists is very pronounced. Twirling and opening and closing hands.
4. He is alert and aware of surroundings and watches everything going on.
5. he will smile and laugh when you work at it enough.
6. responds well to noises and always looks in direction of sounds.
7. rolling over but not up crawling yet.
8. Eating well and fine with different textures.
9. Eye contact can be good at times but when you’re too close or he is on your lap he will avoid it.
10. always felt as a younger baby he was difficult to make smile/laugh. think the quietness and stimming are major red flags. I have raised concerns with HV and GP but being told it’s a watch and wait game. Finding it vv hard to just do that.

Can anyone offer any advice or been in similar situation. Have 3 other children all fine and no family history of autism. Feeling very confused and afraid. have followed a few threads where wrist twirling was dominant and they’ve all ended up with a dx.

If your child presented like this what way have they developed?
I honestly don’t think I could live with myself if I never heard him talk.

Stimming isn’t really a thing though in small babies is it? I thought the “stimming” you mention is just normal baby behaviour and only a concern after around 18 months?

Impossible to say in such a young baby. Even if he did have autism it doesn't mean he will be non verbal and you won't ever hear him talk. Your jumping to unnecessary conclusions.

@BunnyRuddington any post that I’ve saw with similar continuous twirling/opening & closing at this age has ended up being true.

The thing is that, yes, it is possible to see in a younger baby. Just because a baby won’t be given a diagnosis when they’re under one, doesn’t mean that certain patterns of behaviour aren’t present and recognisable under one. It’s really frustrating on here when people say autism is completely unrecognisable before three! Like the symptoms just appear overnight!

Have you been doing the ASQ checklists @NJJT, and the social emotional one? How’s he doing on those? Is there any single babbling like ‘ba’ or ‘da’ or is his vocalising all vowels like ooo and aaa?

Is there any form of turn taking at all - whether that be in games such as peeking around a cushion, or if he says a sound which you repeat, does he repeat it back?

No crawling at this point is absolutely fine - it’s actually been removed as a milestone as not all babies do it.

I have seen some threads on here where wrist twirling at this age is fine. It’s a way for them to express excitement or anticipation without them yet being able to vocalise it.

Thanks for replying @aurer
No imitation of sounds. He does dadada but just of his own accord not in response to anything. He will peek a boo and if we ask where’s (name) he will peek round the corner or the chair if he’s in his walkie or pull the blanket off his face.
no I haven’t done the checklist as to be honest I’m too scared to.

Don’t really know what I’m after from posting as I already know the answer.

Have you done the Ages & Stages assessments @NJJT as aurer suggested?

There are two:

8 months Ages & Stages

& the 6 month social and emotional Ages & Stages which covers the age up to 8 months and 30 days.

The babbling and peekaboo playing are really good signs! Do have a look at the 8 month ASQ because I think you might be pleasantly surprised. It doesn’t take long to complete. It’s very normal for babies to be in the grey area for one or two of the sections. 😊

Wondering if children show signs as early as 6 months, like the twisting wrists and no babbling is it likely to be more severe impairments for the future?

@NJJT hi. How is your baby doing?
I think stimming is more a sign after 28 months.
did your baby coo when younger around three four months? Did you have back and forth conversations? How was he in meeting other milestones?

@NJJT hi. Would be great to have an update. Thanks

@Yas1362 my little one is 1 next week.
he has come on so much from previous posts. He started crawling around 10m and is ready to take off walking. He’s clapping and waving. Responds well to his name and shows a good understanding to things I say to him, eg: give the ball to mummy, where’s daddy? Put it in the box.
He’s generally pleasant and placid. Eats and sleeps sound.
I don’t know what the next year will bring for him but I’m so much more content than what I was. Thank you

@NJJT thank you for responding. I’m glad that your son is doing so great.

Are you in a similar position at the moment?

So lovely to hear your update @NJJT. 😊

Forgive me if I’m wrong, but your comment about not knowing what the next year may hold for him sounds as though you may still have some concerns? Can we reassure you on anything?

@NJJT yes. My ds will be 6 months in about 10 days. He still doesn’t blow rasberries which worries me. I saw him a few days ago making some sounds like blowing rasberry but it happened just a few times and never again.
He also doesn’t return to his name. He turns always towards the sounds but when playing with a toy doesn’t react to his name. It’s like he doesn’t know his name yet. Which is another concern.

I had previously posted about 6m ago about concerns I had for development of my 8m old. I had got very anxious and had to seek some help for myself. I then started to relax abit more and stop overthinking and enjoyed my little one.
He did make good progress and I felt more content until recently…I got myself so worked up the last time that I don’t feel I can share these worries with family as they will start to worry about my mental health spiralling again so this is why I am writing here.
He is coming 16months next week…
My big concerns are he has no words and doesn’t babble very much.
He’s walking but I have noted him beginning to go on his tiptoes.
There is lots of other smaller things too but if he had more words I wouldn’t really notice as much and would think it is typical for that age, eg: always opening/closing doors.
His understanding is sound, he understands what we say to him and will look for things we ask and take them to us.
He responds to his name.
He sleeps well and eats well.
He has some gestures (clapping, waving, will point things out but does use more his hand or thumb when showing me things in books)
He loves loves and will happily listen to us reading to him.
He has good joint attention and will look to us to share enjoyment.
Despite this something just doesn’t feel right about the lack of any speech and I feel my concerns from he was younger are creeping back in.

The understanding is everything though. No words at 16 months don't matter. It's the understanding that is more important and the fact he responds and tries to communciate with you.