I just watched a video of an autistic child

[Pushpinia]

...and my son does the same thing.

Except mine is much littler. but I am a bit worried anyway as he has a couple of 'red flags' already.

Is this a normal thing for babies to do or is it a bit odd?

here is the link

Thankyou

You are right about te combo of behaviours CM, and indeed I think 6 has been common in the past (ds1 was 6) but ime Paeds are working towards earlier dx now as early input is so beneficial.

In fact we are startin the sibs program soon, a research study which looks at the development of babies who have asd in order to try to develop understanding of early symptoms

Thanks all, I actually asked for the thread pulled as it might have upset sopme people but I don;t know if towers will oblige - it's turned interesting anyway now!

Peachy - the other things are the pointing and speech. He never points and doesn't follow a point either.
He has no words, he's 16mo.

He flaps also, which I know lots of babies do...I've been looking for a good online assessment thingy if anyone knows of one to try out.

Which is why people need to go to get multi-disciplinary assessments.

I am a rep on a steering group for an early intervention programme. It is a great programme - we would have been overjoyed to have something like it (15 hours 1:1- okay the literature says 35 but 15 state funded hours is a good start). And they're not getting the children until it's too late - generally about a term before they start school. There are children and families out there who could access this very good help and they're not being picked up. It's very easy for an autism specialist to distinguish between normal toddler behaviour and ASD.

We had years of it. I asked specifically about autism and was told because my son was affectionate and had good eye contact he couldn't possibly be autistic. Rubbish - he;s severely autistic.

If You tube videos give parents the confidence to go and push for assessment from professionals it can only be a good thing.

Incidentally as soon as ds1 got into the system of professionals- everyone gasped at 'why hadn't he been picked up before, why has it taken so long' (he was 3).

the best thing to do would be to get medical advice and not use the internet really, plus the earlier you register concerns the better

16 months is still within the normal range for pointing and following a point. If he's not pointing at things of interest by 18/19 months then I would start suggesting referrals to the HV/GP. Things move slowly. If in the meantime everything clicks into place you can always cancel. I wouldn't remotely worry about lack of words at 16 months.

How do you teach him to do things (like drink out of a cup for example?)

Peachy- I am on the case with the paeds and sense of humour (I always take any opportunity to talk to paeds). I have to say most are very interested.

Push, te pointing is indeed a red flag. I would definitely get him assessed.

Please try not to worry too much though. If he is asd its such a vast spectrum- and really the one thing I learned with te fiorst dx is that its still your child; exactly the same loveable, life-affirming little kid that you had before. The dx is useful as it gives you answer and can help access help but it doesnt change your baby.

Hi Jimjams, thanks -

I generally hold the cup for him to drink from, he grabs at it, I let him have a go, it goes everywhere...

Ah thats good JJ. I did mention you (sorry) about the PDD-nos thing- I expalined what you were studying and that you had mentioned it and it did have some effect- enough for her to refer to Psych as wella s do ADI anyhow.

Its silly really, if I say 'I think' she doesnt listen; she actively disocuraged the MA in ASD as 'too much info for a parent living with it'- if I refer to someone who could be make believe she considers LOL!

Peach - thanks, yes he is absolutely gorgeous as I'm sure are your four! It wouldn't change how much I love him, but I would like to be able to help him if he is somewhere on the spectrum.

This is much neglected but I have a few entries under pre-diagnosis. If you scroll down to the Chat test and First signs you might find some useful links.

Forepath looked pretty good when I looked at it. I wondered about ds3 when he was 16 months, but by 18 months he was pointing away and so I didn't fill in the Forepath assessment. But it looked useful.

With that attitude your LO will do well Push

good luck. I hope he gets the pointing soon, but if not you know where the SN board is now

Thankyou very much girls

Hi - my son has severe autism and yes he does that pushing his head on the floor - did it since about 18 months (I didn't watch the rest of the vid)

At that early age he also - didn't point, didn't look very often when his name ws called (only occasionally - most of the time appeared deaf), would spin himself and plates a lot and had no language and no understanding of words or gestures (bye bye etc) He is now 5.

I am not saying that your child is autistic obviously as i am not a doctor but I am a mum to a 5 year old severely autistic boy.

peachy is right it is such a broad spectrum, I used to be manager of a day centre for young adults with ASD and even at their age. many of them were still able to learn new things all the time and very eager to learn ways to assist themselves and manage their behaviours and research is contiuously ongoing in this area.
I have been out the ASD world for about 3 or 4 years now but it worries me how many children seem to be being classed as 'autistic'. and the amount of different methods beings used to approach it/treat it

TBH I think the assessment system is still pretty rigourous- well I know it is here- but more and more i being learned and atypical and less severe (but still needy) kids are being picked up. Whch is great as often there are generic things that can help once identified- ime just to have a name is a big thing! I know that when I worked in ASD care (many moons ago now, way before ds1 was born) the only asd dx'd people we had were very sevre: no language or interaction whatsoever. Yet there ere people there who were clearly mid- mild spectrum but just classed as Learning Disabled: the sort of label my DS3 would have if I hadnt been more informed.

Treatment wise I still at some thngs but if parents try tem and they help why not (within reason obv). Our Paed thinks gf diets are rubbish, thas not my experience, And well- if your child is affected by asd most things ae worth a shot!

I did the CHAT test and he failed A6, A7 and A8. Everything else was Ok.

I filled in the Forepath thing but then it directed me to paypal! So I wasn't sure if it was worth proceeding or not.

oh yeah I know that I would probably try everything going but you get childre and adults who are being treated one way at school or college and another way at home or in residential care while people are trying anything to find a answer. For a condition that can require a LOT of routine and continuity it seems to be a tragedy that there is no 'real' evidence based response.
I am just going by my limited experience and training.you are the actual parents?

The assessments are pretty rigorous although the diagnostic criteria has been broadened. Mainly this has led to an increase in the diagnosis of those at the higher functioning end of the spectrum.

I think it's good that there are many different methods both teaching and biomed. Every child is different -with a different set of issues and autism itself is many different things. Research is slowly sorting out these categories and the many different underlying causes.

I would say within the system there aren't enough different approaches. It's hard to get anything other than TEACHH, which is OK as far as it goes but there's better stuff out there imo.

(Cup thing sounds good btw - I asked because if you have to teach everything hand over hand it can suggest a problem with imitation which is another key red flag).

well you are right that continuity is the key; i'd hazard a case that for many asd kids its the first thing to get in place- way before you consider anythig else. Although for some like ds3 (whose nickname is Mr Oblivious!) you could change the whole world around and theyd not notice- am always amused at how indispensible his 1-1's think themselves when really he wouldnt bat an eyelid for more than a day if I vanished into the ether if he had te pc to obsess over

I'm a parent and I carry out research in severe autism.

Not every autistic child requires a rigid routine. They're all different. Just like not every autistic child is a visual learner.

ABA, RDI and Floortime all have published 'evidence'. You just need to look at the child/adult and see what they need. Intensive interaction too, is great for the very severely affected.

Jimjams is fab and nows loads- I have learned much from her.

I am just a aprent though, although just graduated so am hoping to apply for a PGCE and eventually go into special ed.

Welcome to the confusing and overwhelming world of autismspeak

My son was diagnosed at 27 months. Today he has approximate mental age (at 5) of a 20 month old. Try not to worry too much and get a paed appointment to ease your worries asap.

never just a parent peachy -remember we're the experts on our children.

I am treated very different by paeds etc when they think I'm a researcher rather than a parent (although interestingly loads of people doing research into autism have close relatives with it).

DS1 isn't all that rigid. He wasn't at all when younger. Providing we remember to tell him where we're off to so he doesn't get any mistaken ideas he's fine.

Well I am hoping that being a aparent will give me a damned sight more empathy when trained than some of the senco's I have dealt with - still planning the MA just dh off to uni next year so need to make at least a little bit of cash!