What age can you spot Autism - help and advice for concerns (16 months)

[bampi16]

Well, concerns is too strong a word really.

I hope this is the right place to post and hopefully I can get some guidance / advice if possible.

My grand daughter is 16 months old and I have noticed a few things that got me thinking that there was something going on. If I comment on what I have noticed I would love for comments and guidance. I have tried reading up on Autism and she does exhibit a few traits

When she was a smaller baby, she used to babble quite a lot and interact a lot more with everyone, now at 16 months she is pretty much silent and goes around the house in "her own world" for instance she loves small ornaments, so when she comes to our (grand parents home) she will find all the ornaments at her level and play with them. She loves pens, so will grab two or three pens at once and if given paper scribble on them (as well as put them in her mouth).

She ignores most people, you call her name and she ignores you unless she wants you for something.

She does love cuddles and hugs, but only from either me (her granddad) or her mother - other people she fights to get away from.

She is fine playing by herself, she interacts with her toys and will play happily (silently in the whole) for quite a while.

At bath time, she loves playing and will interact with me when I play with bubbles, splash her and generally get myself as wet as she is.

It's quite easy to make her laugh proper belly laughs when you do something she finds funny.

She does watch TV (probably too much if i'm being honest) but will sit quietly and watch Shrek (for instance). She does get involved, for instance she will get up and dance along to the scenes with songs in, mimicking them (eg spinning around when they do).

She doesn't really say any words now, maybe "mum" every so often.

She walked from 10 months very well.

She does enjoy things like peek a boo and will play with her toys, it's just the silence that is un-nerving. I know that her mum talks to her constantly (about inane stuff usually), and I talk all the time to her about anything and everything, but she doesn't seem to pick it up.

I was thinking maybe she was a bit deaf, but if I hide my phone, but start peppa pig playing on there, even very very low, she hears it and gets interested.

Is there anywhere I can take her for a checkup - I don't mind paying private to speed it up.

I am sure there are more flags, but nothing springs to mind, and I don't want to bombard you all either. If you are still reading this, thanks and (in advance) thanks for any help or advice

What a good grandad you are for a start. Autism comes in so many forms it's hard to know, my son is 4 and was diagnosed recently but at 16 months he babbled a lot and said about 5 words so total opposite to your granddaughter however the fact that she used to babble and then stopped is a concern, this is called "regression" and is an indicator, also her not responding to her name being called.

Unfortunately the gp will not refer for an assessment until at least 2 years old, sometimes 3! You could try to go private but I'm afraid I have no experience with this so I'm unsure if even a private child psychologist would assess her at this young age, mainly because a lot of the things they do at this age tend to be phases so misdiagnosis is trying to be avoided at all costs.

Hi, thanks for your kind words "nogods...." I love this little girl with all my heart. Being a grand parent is so different to being a parent weirdly (and I cannot explain why).

I just want the best for her and as I have noticed this I want to make sure everything is all okay and if she does need any help, to make sure she gets it.

I'm going there tonight and we have a 'play date', I've just bought her a new ball pool that is shaped like a train engine with a front and back part and can't wait for her to get in and out of it lol.

I think i will be aching by the end of the night as I always am when on my hands and knees crawling around with her lol

thanks again

4 of my children had regression, 2 of them have autism and the other two don't.
Sometimes when children are learing many different things the motor skills or the vocal skills fall behind for a little bit then catch up.
It's great that your granddaughter likes to play and shows that she is responding to play.

My youngest is nearly 3 and never said a word until a couple of months ago and we were so worried esp because she has a higher chance of having autism.
I'm sure the health visitor will be doing a 2 year old check and they will do a lot of different things with your granddaughter to see how she is progressing, with also a questionair for the parents.
Even if the slight possibility your granddaughter does have autism it isn't the end of the world, my nearly 18 year old is doing great with support at collage.
And my 11 year also with Autism does have it harder, and it can be a struggle but he is not doing to bad atm.
You sound like a great and caring grandparent just do what you are doing :)

At this age her parents should be talking to their HV or GP with any concerns. HVs can refer to speech and language, who are used to looking for signs of autism. In some areas, parents can self refer to a SaLT drop in clinic for any informal worries.

I think you'd be jumping the gun to be thinking about private specialists. What do her parents think?

The interest in small objects and pens sounds developmentally normal to me by the way. Interest in tiny things is one of my favourite developmental stages! And getting selective about who to accept and who to be shy of is also "normal" I think as babies learn to distinguish between familiar people and others. Not responding to her name is more of a worry, but then no child responds every time - sometimes they have more important stuff to do! So you're always dealing with shades of grey and as a parent/grandparent it is difficult to see what's typical and what's not. Especially with autism, where a lot of the flags are completely typical in a younger child (which your DGD still is) and only become flags when they are still present in an older child. I think a lot of people worry their 1 year olds may be autistic, aided by checklists on the internet, then at 2 or 3 it's very obvious that they're not! We just never lost that worry with my son.

Sorry about that essay 😳

I would get her hearing checked. Both mine regressed a bit at this age and had glue ear.

My first thought was to get hearing checked. I think a lot of what you're describing is developmental. My 3 year old loves things in order, tidy, which are flags for autism. However, he is so sociable, outgoing, will talk to anyone, so I don't think we have anything to worry about in that respect.

But, I'd urge her mum and dad to get her hearing checked, as that's what setting off some alarm bells with me.

Yes I agree re hearing check. If the parents agree with you, they could speak with their GP. But it is hard as some of what you mention can be quite typical, but then I thought that and my DD is autistic! I am not certain re NHS and age they refer, but you would probably find they’ll assess once the child is 4-5. If they’re not noticeably struggling with anything in particular, can communicate when needed etc then there is no rush to go private IMO. NAS do have a list of private assessors ( psychiatrists ) if you felt the need to go that route.

Sorry NAS- National Autistic Society.

My d's has been diagnosed as autistic at 3.5 and we started the process before he was 2. Phone the health visitor they will come out if you ask. They will start with a hearing check like others have said. In the mean time try withholding what she wants until you get some form of communication to encourage speech

Agree with others - first and foremost thing to do is get hearing checked. People can sometimes hear at different levels / different pitches if you like, so may well hear the quiet noise on your hidden phone, but not certain speech sounds.

The only thing that is a flag is the babbling stopping. Everything else sounds completely normal. So that's not really concerning just that on its own. She's probably too busy learning other things. Does she babble at home do you know?

Well I suspected my dd had autism at four months and I knew she had autism at eight months. She was referred to a paediatrician at 13 months and after being checked for chromosome abnormalities and metabolic disorders had a multi disciplinary assessment at 17 months and an autism diagnosis on her second birthday.
My son who is eight years older has autism as well but they were chalk and cheese so nothing I spotted in dd was similar to ds at the same age.
So my concerns for dd at four months were that she was very quiet, she didn't laugh or cry and rarely smiled. She made no demands at all she laid quietly looking into the middle distance.
At eight months I knew when I attended the clinic for her eight month check she was so different to the babies there. Those babies communicated by crying, gesturing, reaching out and my dd did none of that she sat quietly and looked.
At seventeen months at the MDA referral the concerns were that she had a developmental delay so she wasn't walking then, she was very quiet, she had lost the few words she had at thirteen months, she didn't make her needs known, she was extremely passive so would sit in one spot for hours even with no toys, she used to pat things rather that pick things up, she didn't seem to recognise me as being someone special to her.
In many areas you can self refer to speech therapy and they will want a recent hearing test so would echo others in that. I'd also say try not to worry too much, from what you write there are many positives and children change so quickly that in a couple of months she could have a developmental spurt and you will be wondering why you were ever worried.