Autism and signs

[StroodlePip]

I'm just curious if there are any mums out there who have little ones with autism and what age was it diagnosed? What we're the signs too and do you think it can be spotted early one? Thanks in advance x

Hi, maybe have a look at this
www.firstsigns.org/downloads/m-chat.PDF

My ds was diagnosed at two. It was coming across the m chat posted above which first alerted me to his issues. Feel free to pm me if you have any questions.

My DS was Diagnosed at age 5, and for ages, I insisted there were no early signs (he was my first, so everything he did was 'normal' to me, IYSWIM). As far as I was concerned, he was a lovely, if colicky, baby (he would only sleep with my hand pressing down on his chest, for instance, and then only after HOURS of being held upright, tightly swaddled).
Then, years after his Dx, I found some old video tapes of him, and some of his younger brothers, when they were babies. I cried as I watched the videos, because the difference between my eldest and his younger brothers was so obvious.
With my eldest, the videos are full of me trying to elicit a response from him, saying his name over and over again, and exclaiming with joy if he looks at me. He is unresponsive and ignores me most of the time. With his brothers, even as very tiny babies, they are staring into my eyes as they feed, holding up their hands to my face, and touching it. They respond to my voice by looking, moving their mouths or hands and making noises. If I look away, they search for me.
I was so distracted by the more obvious signs of DS1's autism from the age of about 2.5 (horrific behaviour-screaming fits that would last for hours, throwing anything and everything, hitting, kicking, punching, shouting, scratching...), when DS2 was born, that I barely had time to glance at DS2, never mind notice the difference between him and how DS1 had been!
By the time DS3 came along, DS1 was 3.5, and he was full-on. I was so busy just surviving on a day-to-day basis that I noticed nothing!
The team who diagnosed DS1 kept asking about how he'd been as a baby, but I honestly couldn't see what they were getting at...until years later when I watched those videos, when I was no longer living in the thick of it! I couldn't believe I hadn't noticed how unresponsive and disinterested he had been!

Mine was nearly 3 but suspected from about 1 and had a year of therapy from 2 before diagnosis.
Mine:
Couldn’t talk, was destructive, would spend a lot of time screaming, was aggressive, then began to punch his face (from about 2), bite his hands, and spent all his days at daycare alone in the sandpit corner (they thought he was super well behaved and quiet and couldn’t believe what he was like at home). As he got older he had 1:1 support as he began to display his home behaviour at daycare.
I felt like life was hard for him. My Intuition kicked in by about 1 but I was sure something was going on by 2 but we did all the hearing tests, speech therapy etc before he was diagnosed.
He was the happiest, calmest young baby I’d ever seen.

My DS was diagnosed with Aspergers at 3.5 yo.

I always remember the Ed Psych asking me if he'd ever pointed at things to get my attention, apparently this is one of the very first forms of communication. He hadn't btw.

Like another poster, he was my first child so I had no benchmark.

Sorry, not Ed Psych but Paediatrician.

My niece was diagnosed at 3 but we suspected from 6 or 7 months and we "knew" by 18 months. My db and sil couldn't or wouldn't see it and it took nursery telling them (in her first week) that she needed to see a GP for a referral to community paeds.

She looked like a content baby but she was withdrawn. No looking at you, no interaction, no demands. Never asked to be fed, didn't respond appropriately to stimulus, didn't care if her parents were in the room or not. Then she never pointed or waved, no eye contact, only looking at things out the corner of her eyes. Flapping, spinning, hated noise and crowds. Struggled to wean and couldn't tolerate even the smallest lumps. Never slept. Made repeated noises. Slow to talk and with pronounced echolalia. Walked v late. Absolutely literal in terms of understanding. Routine obsessed.

DS1 I knew from about 2, although due to a really shit support network at Nursery he wasn’t diagnosed until 4 (that was a game changer)

DD was picked up at 3 and DS2 I knew from 18 months and was DX at 2. I missed the signs with DD until it was pointed out which then led to my DX too.

Ds1 was showing signs aged 2 and diagnosed with aspergers syndrome aged 9.

Ds5 was showing signs from about 3 or 4 months old. He is now 3.5 and we are going through the assessment process with him at the moment. I think he is more severe than ds1.

First suspected with ds before he was 2, diagnosed at 6. Unusual language development, echolalia, lining up toys, obsessive, sensory issues.

I had doubts from about 9 months old, however he wasn't diagnosed with autism but with dyspraxia and developmental verbal dyspraxia. He didn't hit his normal milestones, wouldn't turned when called, didn't respond to his name, rejected some food textures, preferred not to be held, didn't point, didn't babble, didn't say any words until he was 3.

I really suspected that he was autistic but after many tests, someone suggested he'd be referred to a specialist unit for speech and language. They diagnosed DVD (developmental verbal dyspraxia), physical dyspraxia, low muscle tone and hypermobility, and all those symptoms together do resemble autism. He is now 10 years old and definitely not autistic! but he still has speech problems.

It is sometimes really difficult to diagnose a child early on.

DS was diagnosed age 5 even though it was obvious from a much younger age.

It might depend on your area but I was told they wouldn’t even assess for autism until age 3 where I live!

DS was diagnosed with Aspergers at 8. I didn't notice anything until he started nursery at 4 and wouldn't interact with the other kids. Even so it wasn't until he was 8 that we thought of autism - we discounted it many times as he didn't seem to fully fit the criteria but then DH wanted to get him tested as their relationship wasn't good and I agreed as there were so many arguments. I was shocked. I had thought dyspraxia or sensory processing disorder (he has poor motor skills and many sensory issues plus he did stim a lot). He is very high functioning though.

We are going through the diagnosis process at the moment. DS is 8. It wasnt until he started school that flags were raised (social skills/concentration/stimming behaviours). There is lots of useful threads on the SN boards.