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Original poster

No word's, no pointing and no walking either.

74 replies

MUSA · 09/05/2005 17:40

I do this topic has being mentioned so many time's, i feel so depressed everyone in my family is getting to me and i don't no what i should do.

My ds is 20 month's, he has no words, does'nt point and can't walk either.

I feel like im letting my son down, he babble's on all the time, in his own word's can't even say mummy or daddy.

Any suggestion's on what i should do, he is my only child.

OP posts:
Socci · 09/05/2005 22:15

Message withdrawn

Clayhead · 09/05/2005 22:23

MUSA, my son is a very fast 20 month old bum shuffler who doesn't walk too.

His sister was a late walker also, so I've been quite relaxed about it.

I do know how frustrating it can be though when yours is the last of the peer group to walk...

HandbagAddiction · 10/05/2005 08:48

Musa - we've exchanged posts on this before so I'm sorry to hear that you're still worried and concerned about your ds. Like some of the others....my dd is 20 months old and has only just started taking some unassisted steps. She was very late with weight bearing and is still an excellent bum shuffler. Late walking in my book does not necessarily constitute a developmental delay and in fact my HV and GP were not concerned in the slightest as being able to sit unaided and get around (e.g. by crawling or bum-shuffling) is by far the most important thing from a gross motor skill development perspective. Certainly sounds from what you say that you ds is well on his way here.

However, I'm not saying you shouldn't get him checked out with respect to the other items you mention. At the very least, you will be able to discuss your real concerns with someone and if needed, get your son refered to the paediatricians for further investigation. Given the time it sometimes takes to get a paed appointment, there is no harm at all in initiating this process now. Could be that by the time the appointment comes, you may have seen some progress and you can always either cancel it or go along anyway.

Hang in there - take your ds to the gp and get the ball rolling. It's what the professionals are there for.

clary · 10/05/2005 09:00

Oh Musa I am sorry this is getting you down.
But I do feel, as others have said, you should take him to see yr GP as a first step.
A child who is not walking at 20mths is outside the NT parameters and they do have a purpose. If there is some problem, the sooner you get it treated, whether by physio or some other means the better. At the very least it might set yr mind at rest.
Speech-wise I would worry too much, a lot of 20mth olds are not very clear. But not pointing is a worry. Does he communicate in other ways?
(reading the thread I see that there is a lot of excellent advice as ever, which I would concur with. I know it?s hard being told that yr child has problems, if that is what you end up hearing, but believe me, the earlier you find out and seek treatment the better)
Good luck

clary · 10/05/2005 09:01

sorry, that should read "speech wise I would not worry too much"!

HandbagAddiction · 12/05/2005 08:25

Musa - what's happening? Did you take your ds to the doctors to get checked out?

Hope everything is OK.

Original poster
MUSA · 12/05/2005 14:52

HandBagAddiction,

He has got a appointment next week, i will let you no what happened. Thank you for asking me.

OP posts:
Davros · 18/05/2005 21:36

BUMP! Any news MUSA?

Original poster
MUSA · 19/05/2005 13:36

Davros, i have a appointment tomorrow with my gp, i will let you know what happened, that's for thinking about me.

OP posts:
Original poster
MUSA · 19/05/2005 13:45

sorry ment to say, thank's for thinking about me.

OP posts:
Davros · 19/05/2005 17:01

Well come back and report if you feel up to it, nothing worse than feeling pressured to go through something again if you don't want to.
Good luck though.

Fio2 · 19/05/2005 17:12

I have been thinking about you too

HandbagAddiction · 20/05/2005 13:23

Bump for Musa...

MUSA - are you around? how did your appointment go today?

Original poster
MUSA · 20/05/2005 14:02

Hi guys my appointment is at 5 o clock this evening, we let you know what happened as soon as i get back.

I forgot to tell you that ds is now pulling herself up everywhere, climbing onto the sofa's, even caught him up the staire's today, but im not gonna mention the walking part to the gp as he is nearly there now.

Guy's i will speak to you all later when i get back.

Lena. xxxx

OP posts:
Original poster
MUSA · 20/05/2005 17:44

Hi guy's im back, went well the doctor she was really nice, i told her everything and she said that she will write a letter straight away for him to be checked out as he should be saying something, and only should point. She said he is still to young to know if he has autism.

So it's now just a waiting game. How long does a referal normally take?.

OP posts:
Original poster
MUSA · 20/05/2005 18:00

sorry i ment doctor said that he should be pointing my now.

OP posts:
Socci · 20/05/2005 18:23

Message withdrawn

Socci · 20/05/2005 18:25

Message withdrawn

Jimjams · 20/05/2005 19:07

glad she took you seriously. Although he may be younger than they like to dx, he's not too young for SALT, earlybird, hanen etc my son wasn't dxed until 3 when it was quite clear that he had problems before 2- he spent his third year on waiting lists rather than receiving intervention. hopefully your son won't need a dx, but if I end up in the same position with ds3 then I'll assume there's a problem and treat accordingly.

hope you don't have to wait too long.....

coppertop · 20/05/2005 19:12

I'm glad you found a doctor who took you seriously, MUSA. I agree that a good Paed should be able to spot autism early (if that's the problem). Ds2 was only 21 months when we got the preliminary diagnosis. Good luck with it all.

Original poster
MUSA · 20/05/2005 19:20

I am so sure that he has autism, coppertop my ds is also 21 month's old.

Did you have an idea that your ds had autism before they said he had it.?

OP posts:
Socci · 20/05/2005 19:26

Message withdrawn

coppertop · 20/05/2005 19:28

Ds2 had always had a few quirks but I think he was about 10 months old when I first started to wonder. When he was 14 months old I spoke to ds1's portage worker about ds2 and she in turn spoke to the Paed. Ds2 was seen about 6 months later. Ds1 is autistic too so by the time ds2 came along I knew some of the things to be looking out for. Ds2 is very different to his brother though so I didn't spot the signs straightaway.

Original poster
MUSA · 20/05/2005 22:51

Coppertop if you don't mind me asking, what sign's was your ds2 showing a 10 month's that made you wonder.

OP posts:
coppertop · 20/05/2005 23:01

Ask away.

I think it was the little quirks all starting to come together. He'd always been sensitive to noise but was also IMO pretty sociable. He'd had his 9 month check-up and passed. The only concern was that he wasn't babbling. At 10 months he suddenly had some perfect words. It sounds an odd thing to have concerns about but ds2 went from nothing at all to a perfectly pronounced "mummy" "daddy", his own name and his brother's name. Not "mama" "dada" etc. He didn't add to those words and they disappeared within a few short weeks. Losing acquired language is also a red flag for autism. Factor in his sensitivity to noise, his obsession with circles and the colour red and it really made me stop and think. It was about this time that he also started lining up his building bricks in particular patterns. It was at about 12 months (ish) that he began stripping his clothes off too (making me suspect that he was sensitive to the feel of the material).