Concerned by behaviour from 19 month old DS - flapping and hyperactive

[foxycat]

Hello, I'm new to posting here.

I am somewhat concerned about some of my DS's (19 months) behaviours - mostly flapping and walking on his top toes. I am aware that these can be behaviours exhibted by children on the autistic spectrum, which is really worrying me.

He flaps his arms, a lot. Not only when excited, but also (although to a lesser degree) when upset or frustrated. He used to do this when younger, stopped, and then started again about a month ago. He walks on his tip toes quite a bit too, enough for me and some others to notice. He is also very active, I would say hyperactive, and does not sit still for longer than a couple of minutes, unless I am reading to him, even then he sometimes wriggles quite a bit. He always seems to be running, jumping, or throwing something!

He also HATES being restrained in any way - more than about 10 minutes in the car seat and he's complaining! The buggy is not quite so bad, but if I stop to look at something in a shop or talk to someone for more than a couple of minutes he starts whining.

His eye contact is good, he does point (although was late doing this, about 17 months with index finger and from 12 months with whole hand), follows a point and seems to understand a lot. He has about 30 words, although quite a few are pretty unclear. He also has some pretend play, although this is pretty basic - but I thought this was probably normal for a boy of his age.

He does seem to get frustrated very quickly, if he can't do something, or I won't let him. Again, I thought this was normal, but having been around other children, he does seem to me to be unusually quick to get into a frustrated rage.

He is a lovely boy, very sociable and interested in everything. He loves reading, playing with balls, 'helping' me in the garden, but these other things (along with the late pointing) have been concerning me for a while now, and I have a feeling something is not quite right.

Any advice on flapping, hyperactivity or any of the other matters gratefully received.

he sounds absolutely normal foxycat! you could be describing either of my boys at that age, although ds2 is definitely more "hyper" than ds1 was lol
30 words is excellent, pointing is very good (in terms of autism I think)

My cousin walked on his tip toes for years, everybody remarked on it.

oops, and he wasn't on the spectrum.

Firstly, I would always trust your instinct if you truly believe there is a problem ask your HV to do a CHAT test or see your GP.

Having said that,I don't think the flapping and tip toe walking in themselves indicate ASD. The tiptoe thing doesn't mean autism but can mean a sensory difficulty which can present in autistic children IYKWIM. As for hand flapping, most toddlers do this at some point. Some do it frequently. It usually indicates frustration at that age. My DS has some very mild AS traits and doesn't flap. My DD1 is the polar opposite of autistic and used to flap constantly to get her own way. DD2, 1yr,does it occasionally.

It does sound like he was a little late to point but still within 'normal' limits. How is his other non-verbal communication? Does he clap and wave? Does he gesture to/at things he wants? Does he copy? Does he bring you toys or show you things? Good joint attention is a good indicator that a child is unlikely to be autistic.

Again, he's a little young to be properly hyperactive and most toddlers are to a certain extent.

Meant to clarify that many, many children tip toe walk without it even being a sensory issue,just normal behaviour.

my DS2 has autism and flaps (but only in last year or os - he is 5) and he has always been a tiptoe walker - however at 19 months he had absolutely no language, no understanding of even basic things (he appeared deaf) couldn't wave (still doesn't really).

also my DSs eye contact was virtually non existent - he wouldn't share his time with something i wanted to do with him - everything was totlaly to fulfil his needs (he would drag me to a cupboard to get crisps -and still does) I knew i was viewed as an object by him IYSWIM, a facilitator to things he wanted.

foxycat
it is impossible with ASD to get anything approaching an indication of whether behaviours consitute symptoms via a message in a board.
But my feeling is that parents ( mums especially) rarely think there is an issue without some cause.
if you have concerns then persue it. Get to see your GP and ask for a referral.
Hopefully by the time any appt comes up you will be much more confident that all is well.
If there is any element of ASD then the sooner you know the sooner you can get help.

agree with pagwatch

trying to calm you fears by telling you how different my son seems from yours at that age.

Yep totally agree with Pagwatch

My DS (4 in June) was referred to a paed back in early Feb due to seperation anxiety, still displaying only parallel play, having alot of delayed echolalia, wouldn't dress up, not able to say hello to people without shouting at them and hiding behind me when asked a question. There were other things and I am still awaiting a paed appt. However, in just that short time I have an almost new son. He adores being 'sportacus', his speech has caught up massively, says hello very nicely now to people, talks to adults alot better, has friends at playschool & plays loads better, seperates better and the echolalia has dropped hugely etc etc.

I am still going to take him anyway to double check him but there is no harm in getting in the system. Like Pagwatch says, I am alot more confident now that he has some little quirks as opposed to being autistic, among those it seems he does not like being the centre of attention!

I really hope things work out OK for you all! xx

Foxy, not sure if this reassures you but my ds is 21 months and is exactly same except he pointed from about 9 months. He gets very very very frustrated very very quickly. Hates his car seat and has to be heavily stimulated and entertained just for a 15 minute journey. He like your ds is better with the pushchair for some reason, maybe cos he can see more.

I think he just sounds like a clever and frustrated boy. My ds has about 35 words, some very unclear and if you don't respond to him straight away or you don't quite understand what he's asking for he flips out very quickly.

If the eye contact is there and he is attempting to communicate then I doubt it's autism but like everyone esle says go with your instincts.

Thanks vey much everyone.

Myredcardigan - he does clap and wave, although was quite late to do these things as well! He is very keen on bringing things to show me and loves trying to do the actions to lots of nursery rhymes and thngs. His non-verbal communication seems fine to me - he usually manages to get his message across.

Pagwatch and barmymummy- I did go and see my GP (who is lovely) about these things, but he assured me that he thinks everything is fine, that flapping and toe walking can be present in some NT children. It did make me feel better for a while, but now I seem to have started worrying again. Perhaps it is more a problem with me than my DS?!

My friend's dd has toe walked for ages, she is totally NT, I used to flap my arms and I'm also NT as far as I know.

I think it's a very positive sign that your ds is sharing attention with you, communicating well non verbally and engaging in games with you.

I think you're wise to keep an eye on the things that are concerning you, but I really wouldn't panic, they sound like quirks rather than anything more symptomatic to me. (have 2 ds' btw, ds1 probably mildly on spectrum, ds2 21 months and seems NT - he is also incredibly demanding though, far more so than ds1 ever was!)

Hi was your concern put to rest ?x

In my opinion, definitely not autism, but possibly SPD (sensory craving), and maybe some lower attention span.

The reason I am excluding autism is that he started pointed on time (anything up to 18m is in a normal range), he follows point instead of looking at your hand, he pretend plays, he already has 30 words (which is normal at his age,if not slightly ahead), he is sociable . Autistic kids are bad at all those things above. Like,you would have noticed by now for sure.

Hello can I please get some advice! I have a 22 month old little boy! He only has a couple of words but communicates with them E.g says up, down, open, juice, bop bop, bath! He always hand flapped a good bit but literally only 2 weeks ago he started walking on his tip toes and spinning! He repeats the words round and round a lot! He understands if I ask does he want a bath, turn on/off light, say bye bye but his understanding still wouldn't be good! If I say get your shoes, I think he knows what I'm saying but he runs and hides and nearly gets upset! He will only point the very odd time! He mostly responds to his name and is eye contact is good! He likes been chased and tickled but doesn't interact with people or kids he doesn't know! He doesn't even like his sister playing with him! He used to love saying all the animal noises but since 2 weeks ago it's extremely hard to get him to say them. He loves playing with his tractors and cars driving them up and down! If he sees a doll he will make a crying noise and if I can't him the bottle he will pretend to feed the baby! He will put a phone to his ear and say bye bye! If he is somewhere he doesn't want to be he will pull me up, say up so I lift him then he'll say bye bye so we will go! Reading this are these all signs that are indicating to autism? Than you, please looking for people opinion!

@Aine1233 , no, he doesn’t have it. Imagination, pretend play, receptive language are quite good.
Don’t worry about toe walking and spinning, my typical daughter does it. It will go away.

His words vocab is a bit low, so works with him on expanding it. Although, he has a nice combo of verbs, nouns and adverbs. Can he also say some colours?

In few months, possibly 2-4, he should be able to start joining two words, like “yellow car” or “go mummy” etc