Child in my care shows signs of somthing...not sure what..any help?

[mindermummy]

I care for a child of nearly 2. A boy.

He def (in my eyes and my husband and my childminding friends), has some unusual ways abot him.

I am worried about mentioning anything to the parents, incse they get offended with me. Although feel bad if i dont say anything.

I have looked after children for 20 years, so feel i have some opinion on differneces in children.

These are the signs;

Very disturbed in other situations other than my home.

Tantrums on a daily basis, over nothing usually, that can go on for up to an hour.

Obsessions over certain toys; wheels, balls. will pley with them over and over; will ignore all other toys.

Recently getting aggressive with other children; kicking and pushing.

Does have eye contact, mainly.

Not much speach development.

???????

advice would be great, thank you.

xxxx

sorry excuse spelling mistakes; written far too quickly!!!!! xx

so you're worried about autism? Phew from the title I was worried it would be abuse!
If I were the parent, I'd want to know. I have little knowledge and experience of children and so rely on his nursery workers to help me interpret how he's doing compared to his peers (e.g. recently I asked whether they had any concerns about his speech that would indicate a hearing problem). I think you should tell them, professionally that you have concerns.

yes

write down your concerns

DON'T say you 'suspect autism' or whatever - you are not a medic so are not in a position to dignose

Instead share your concerns, perhaps using the EYFS grid (age and stage) to illuminate further

good luck

Yes definatly, you need to talk to the parents. I had exactly the same situation fairly recently, eventually got the poor boy some help, but not before many serious episodes, was diagnosed ASD just before Xmas. Stuff that may help in the mean time- visual timetable diaries, very strict routines. I have recently been given info about the national strategies website, it has a section and elearning on IDP autism, long but worthwhile and free e learning course. Hth

I had a little mindee who I had big concerns about.

He was very like you describe as well as having no eye contact, and no pointing.

I spoke to the Mum, I initially said I was a bit worried about his eye sight, and would she like to see the HV, and that I didnt mind if the HV came to see him at mine, so it was in a playing situation.

As it happened within minutes of the HV seeing him, she also had concerned, made an appointment to see his Mum, and took it from there.

The little boy did turn out to be autistic, and now after getting help from very young is doing well.

Have you looked into schemas? I have a LO with rotation schema and he likes toys he can roll or rotate. There are lots of activities you can introduce to support him.
As for other things you mentioned I can't comment ... it can be something ... or nothing

As others have said, just say you've noticed some things, let his parents investigate it further.

Meanwhile, you can try some early intervention things such as using the command "look at me" to get him to make eye contact, whilst you hold an object he may like such as a car. Aim for holding gaze for 1 second at first, then increase slowly to 5 seconds.

You can also do this with rolling a ball or pushing a car between you and him.

Visual diary could help him communicate his needs. Picto Selector (free, big download as comes with lots of pictures) can be used to print visual diary sheets.

Children develop speech at different rates, so work on getting him to use speech by naming objects, especially his current 'special things' such as the car, wheel etc.

Too early in my view to go down the diagnosis route. Children develop so much between the age of 2 and 3.5 - they can be silent at age 2 but be speaking the hind legs off a horse come 3 and a half.

I would observe and note your concerns over the next couple of months. Just after his 2nd birthday would be a natural time for you to have done some form of developmental assessment and I'd pick an area of concern to raise with the parents, then proceed as shoshe did.

Don't diagnose though or scare them. The not-scaring is probably easier said than done though.

Have you heard about ecat (every child a talker)? I have recently been getting emails from my local authority about ideas for getting children to talk. I can forward them on to you if you like?

@ Op, Nanny Nick and others: whilst it is true that children at that age develop a lot between 2 and 3 or 2 and 5 or whatever, a child psychologist with an autistic child recently told me that the younger an autistic child is when diagnosed, the better the chances that treatment will be effective. Her child was not diagnosed until age 3 (I think that is what she said) and treatment is having an effect but not as much as it would have done, based on her experience with other kids, if he had been diagnosed when 2 or even younger.
I can understand the reluctance to jump in with both feet but I would not delay at all in advising the mother to have the child looked at. Perhaps you should not use the word autism but just say that you are very concerned that there may be some developmental issue and the earlier it is addressed, the higher the chance that it can be remedied.

A dx isn't needed. Helping the child early on is best, so doing thing with them to encourage communication, encourage them to make eye contact, encourage them to point for things. A dx isn't needed though - a dx is for funding purposes. Funding isn't needed early on. Once a child has a dx, hard to remove it.

A dx isn't needed. Helping the child early on is best, so doing thing with them to encourage communication, encourage them to make eye contact, encourage them to point for things. A dx isn't needed though - a dx is for funding purposes. Funding isn't needed early on. Once a child has a dx, hard to remove it.

Tell the parents your concerns, but surely they must have noticed this themselves?

I agree with what nick just said. A formal diagnosis isn't in and of itself helpful, taking action is what matters, but action doesn't depend on a diagnosis.

The reliability of a formal diagnosis at 2 is significantly lower than one at 3 as well. If a child is misdiagnosed it can do more harm than good.

It's better to observe, identify concerns and come up with a plan of action (which may include a referral) to tackle those concerns than put an autism or ADHD or SLD label on a child which you can't remove and has a plan of action attached which may address some of their needs while ignoring others and preventing things which don't need preventing.

Intervention isn't based on a diagnosis. A childcare professional with a good knowledge base should be able to maximise the impact what they do based on what they see and know without putting a child in a box.

I wouldn't advise delaying seeking advice but saying there's a problem and advising a referral is less productive than being able to clearly articulate and provide evidence of your concerns. The OP seems to have some vague areas of concern, these can be refined by observation and then raised with parents and addressed by targeted measures in the setting. For instance the playing with balls and wheeled toys may be linked to a schema, or it may be a sign of something more serious. The perception of not much speech development may be within normal boundaries or it may not. Overall speech may be perceived at an acceptable level but with significant gaps in development indicative if a problem. The tantrums with no cause may in fact have an underlying trigger.

Our CM recently raised concerns about this with us. We were not offended. We were shocked though. Obviously I have no idea how these parents will take it though. But from my own experience I M grateful it was raised, it confirmed my view that we have an excellent childminder. But you are right t be wary, no matter how gently this is raised, we were very shocked, and rather alarmed, so I would definatly hink through how to raise it. I thought how our CM did if was good, one evenng at pick up, she asked if she could come round to discuss how it was going that evening. So it was good that we didn't have to wait long worrying what it could be about, and it was raised in a better place than on her doorstep. Good luck.

Thanks everyone.
Good helpfull info.

I think for now im going to monitor it bit longer and record things down.

Im just worried he is too young..and im gonna make a big mountain out of a mole hill if nothing is wrong.

Can these things he does just be "normal" and im looking too much into it.????

I think his parents have made quite a few comments on him . mainly how "naughty" they think he is and quite uncontroalable at times. He is with me for long hours too from 7am till 6pm. Mon - fri. So does spend a long time iwth me.

Im so worried about starting something that might be nothing really

And yes Autism had crossed my mind...but then i started reading about aspergers ...which def sounded more like it.

This is where obs will help you realise whether it's something or whether it's not :)

It's impossible to make an informed decision based on what you know now. If your current concerns are backed up by your obs you did well to spot it and you'll have a clearer picture. If your obs show nothing out of the ordinary then that's a good thing but better check than not!

Aspergers is on the autistic spectrum BTW. But try to keep an open mind and evaluate on the basis of the evidence in front of you. Anything which isn't within normative developmental boundaries should become apparent and that would be cause for some concern.