12 month development

[OLLY38]

Hi,
My Lo was born 7 weeks early. She is 12 months now corrected age. I think she may be autistic as I see some traits but my husband dosent see what I see and thinks I need to chat to someone. I just want to do what is best for her and I know the earlier the better.

Lo will turn over a toy car and spin its wheels for a mintue and then go off and explore something else. Times she will push the toy car like it should be played with. She responds to her name sometimes, she doesn't be excited or happy when I pick her up from creche. You have to mess or play with her to get her laughing and simling. She waves, points and claps on her terms. She points to dog and we think she says dog when doing it. She is taking a few steps. She eats and sleeps fine and turns to noise. Thanks for reading my thread.🙂

Nothing that you've said here would alarm me, but I'm aware it's one paragraph, and humans are complex creatures, even when tiny.

On the specifics of what you've mentioned, briefly spinning spinny things is absolutely typical – a spinning top is a classic toy for a reason! It can become a concern if a child is spending large amounts of time doing it over a period of time, but that doesn't sound like the case here.

Name response at this age is usually 'sometimes' because they have what's called single-channel attention, so they can only pay attention to one thing at a time and really struggle to sudden 'change channel'. If she's absorbed in something and you call her name, it probably won't register – and that's absolutely as expected.

It might be worth having a look at https://portsmouth.tricare.mil/Portals/130/12%20month%20asq.pdf and https://www.socfc.org/SOHS/Disabilities%20Mental%20Health/ASQ/ASQ%20SE%2012%20Months.pdf. These are the questionnaires health visitors usually use, the first for a general overview of development (do check the scoring sheet at the back, though, they never expect all yeses in a section!) and the second to look more in depth at social-emotional development, which would ordinarily be affected in a child with autism.

If she scores as expected, then hopefully you'll feel reassured. If she doesn't, that will give you some evidence to discuss with your husband and health care professionals. Note that it's quite common for a baby to score in the grey for one or two areas on the first questionnaire, just the way it's designed, and that usually works itself out without any extra support.

Thanks @skkyelark for your message. I really appreciate it along with all your information.