Am I being hysterical again or does my DS really have autism symptoms

[margobambino]

My DS is 2 months, able to make good eye contact, social, initiates communication with people etc. He says quite a lot words and 2-3 words sentences too.
However, since he was 7-8 months he likes to spin objects and enjoys watching spinning objects. He started respondin his name at approximatelly 6 months. However, nowadays, he usually does not respond when we call him. When I tell him something after his name he does it for example brings me something but if I only call his name, he doesn't look at me most of the times. I was reading some information on the internet and then noticed that he sometimes walks on his tiptoes too. Plus he is afraid of vacuum cleaner. I spent all my weekend on the internet reading and searching, and really not sure whether I should be worried or not. Obviously I am worried but is this another depressive/anxious/hysterical state or am I right to feel worried.
Please help.

I think you should ask your GP about health anxiety. I have suffered with this on and off for a while and am now learning to recognise it in myself

I have had anxiety both about my own health and my childrens and its awful and very real at the time.

The symptom spotting and looking for reassurances is very typical.

quickdick, yes this is awful and extremely real. I seek constant reassurance and when I am reassured by someone it doesn't last too long. I am really in pain (mentally) constantly and not coping anymore.
Did you use any medication?

I dont medicate but I would if I couldnt get it under control.

I was constantly checking my girls and they started to pick up a few of my anxieties and thats when I seeked help. It sounds like you are already transferring some of this stuff onto your ds as well and confusing him.

You really have to be very strict with yourself. Keep a diary of how many times you are asking for reassuarnce and how many times you are symptom checking. Then try and reduce this every day. I know it sounds odd but the less I asked for reassurance the less anxious I started to feel. This kind of thing just fuels the thoughts.

Rationalise things with yourself and if the other thoughts creep in then you have to convince yourself it is your anxiety and not the fact the symptom is getting worse.

I had did anonline cbt course and that helped alot as well as keeping the diary.

I also transferred things....as soon as I felt ok about one potential problem another would creep in - be aware of this. Sounds like you have moved from the autism thing onto the head injury - this is very typical of a health anxiety.

I have to avoid all medical dramas, anything health related in magazines etc because it does help to keep my anxieties in check.

Oddly enough when one of my children did get quite ill and had to have blood tests I was very calm and pragmatic because this time it was 'real'. Very different from the times I was running scenarios over and over in my head. Child is ok now btw.

I know its hard but you have to recognise this is an anxiety and not let your thoughts tell you otherwise.

Yes, you have described me above actually. But this time I haven't been able to move on from autism. Now, I have three anxieties at the same time. Autism, head trauma and scar.
It is obvious that internet is making the situation worse but I find it difficult not to google things.
Each time I tell myself, this is the last worry and I promise myself I won't worry about things like that anymore once I am reassured for the current one. I brought my DS to private doctors so many times for reassurance.

CBT (or some other sort of therapy) does sound as if it might be useful There's a whole series of these books which are meant to be helpful. I have heard good things about them. Also there's an online CBT course I think which is run for the NHS so is free.

As you are obviously worried, if I was you, I would go to your GP and ask for a referal to a child development centre where he can be assessed by a community paediatrain and a range of other health professionals as the paediatrian sees fit.

I think that for serious development problems health visitors are a bit out of their league. They can't really offer practical help like a child development centre. Like you I was severely depressed and breastfeeding a 20 month old. My health visitor was incapable of seeing beyond my depression. It really helped me to have a knowledgable person tell me what was happening with my son's development.

My son was an extreme toe walker (he still toewalks at 7 years old) and it turned out the cause was orthopedic. This was corrected with 18 months physio. He was unable to get his heels to the ground at all and crawled most the time. At the age of seven you would never know he had a problem.

He also had limited speech as a toddler and it turned out the cause of that was glue ear. My son's pre school was convinced that he was autisic, when in fact the frustration of being deaf caused the behaviour problems.

Margo, my DS is 21 months and sounds quite similar to yours. He also loves spinning things. Very, very sensible words from Mrsturnip - I used to worry a bit about my ds and the spinning, but he is doing it in a fully interactive way: he brings things to us to spin, saying 'spin' to us, etc, so though it has been listed as an 'autistic trait', there is a real difference if a child is just in their own world doing it, or if they're doing it as you describe - as a game rather than a compulsion or a sensory experience without understanding.

My niece is 2.3 and used to walk on her tiptoes (still does occasionally). She is the polar opposite of ASD (if there is such a thing).

They both spin themselves round together laughing. Children love spinning things - hence spinning tops, roundabouts etc.

Btw your ds's language sounds better than mine (who is older) - he has lots of single words but hardly ever puts two together.

Your ds really does sound absolutely fine.

Hi, newbie here.

I have a similar situation with ds2. He?s 23months and really enjoys spinning things. In fact, I realise that I use his enjoyment as a means of calming him down when he gets fractious ? an all too common occurrence in recent months.

There are other things that really worry me though. Although he responds when me or dh speak to him, he doesn?t seem to respond when anyone else calls his name. He does point, but was very late to do this ? about 18 months. His laguage is pretty poor. This is a concern because he said his first words relatively early, but he doesn?t seem to have progressed much over the past few months. Also, the words are very indistinct. He gets frustrated and a lot of the time rather than tell me what he wants or point to it, he physically tries to take me to it.

There are a few other things that concern me. He seems to have difficulty relating to people he?s not very familiar with and in particular to new environments. This makes taking him out something of an ordeal. There are times when he seems in a world of his own and seems happiest walking in straight lines rather than engaging with his brother or sister when they?re playing.

He really likes trains and modes of transport and I don?t want to read too much into this because DS1 was like this and has never displayed any autistic traits. In isolation I wouldn?t worry about this, but combined with other things and some odd behavioural things, I am really concerned.

I?ve discussed this with DH and he tells me not to worry as he?s priobably a late bloomer, but there?s a nagging feeling that all is not as it should be. He does make eye contact with people and doesn't seem really introverted, hence my confusion.

growingpains, some of what you say is also familiar to me (see my post below re. spinning things).

My ds (almost 22 months) doesn't always respond to being called. He has a lot of words but much is indistinct and he still babbles a lot with an odd word thrown in. He will also sometimes try and take me to something he wants (eg snack cupboard!). Also obsessed with trains - but like you I think this is very common with young boys, in fact I think it would be more unusual not to be.

What do you mean about relating to unfamiliar people/environments? Does he get scared, or tantrum, or withdrawn?

I do relate to how you feel, there are things about my ds which I just don't know if I should be worried about or not, iyswim. Also hard if you're naturally a worrier, as I am.

I am losing it... I was trying to focus on what to do. GP appointment, HV visit, etc. Towards 4-5 pm today I started feeling a bit better. Then I came home and another bad news! He bumped his face (eye lid and cheek to another corner when he was playing hide and seek with his grandma. We had covered all sharp edges but it seems we forgot the one behind the curtains of French door. Red eye lid, purple cheek and slightly scratched too.
I really don't understand what's going on. I am now thinking someone cursed us or something. Why now? Why all these are happening when I am already going down hill.
Growingpains, I do understand how you feel by the way. My husband also keep telling me not to worry. He is planning to speak to the doctor and explain how depressed and lost I am.

darling, these things feel worse because you're in a bad way at the moment. bashes on the face, landing on their heads, falling over etc, these are all really normal things about having a toddler.

you'll never be able to manage every situation he's in, not for the rest of his life. i think you know that it's your anxieties that come top of the list of needing to be dealt with here. cbt does sound like it might really help.

growing pains- does he pass the CHAT test- for an 18 month old its the best test really.

If you scroll down on this page the last 2 entries (CHAT and First Signs) might be of use to you.

margo - children of his age are likely to bump themselves in some way or another every day for the next few years. I think you need to see the doctor about your anxieties. I really think your son sounds fine, but you sound as if you could do with some help.

Does anybody know the web site address of CBT run for NHS?

I think I've found it actually. Is ıt this one?

Not sure how flushing the toilet can be interpreted as a symptom of autism. My DS, also 20 months, does this. They're just observing the rules of cause and effect. Nothing to worry about at all.

I really don't know how wolfwear. It's unbelievable. In some books, they even say most children with autism enjoy music alot. If you are a mum like me, and if your child already is doing some other things (spinning, not responding to name ) you easily think that it is another symptom. I believe all those websites and books should be much more careful with giving such information to public.

Margo, you have to stop looking at websites. Just don't let yourself do it. My ds (aged 2, not autistic) loves tip toeing around, is quite obsessive in various ways that his sister just wasn't (lights, the loo, cars, trucks, trains, specific books etc), and I think that's part of being a little boy. He loves singing, so enjoys music.

I'm sure he's fine, and I hope you find a way to deal with your anxiety.

It's not flushing toilets, it's a repetitive and stereotyped activity that is the key. So a child with autism might try and flush a toilet repeatedly and not do anything else. My son for example spend the entire christmas day 2004 wanting the microwave on, as he wanted to watch the plate go round. Every time it stopped he screamed until it went back on again. He kept that up for hours and hours and hours.

The music thing can be an ability so it is noticeable. Aged 9 my son has one word (Mummy) but he can hear a song once then sing it back perfectly in key. Or he can harmonize when I am singing. He could never however take part in a regular class or learn and instrument.

mrsturnip you are really good. I find your posts very helpful and reassuring. Thanks for being here.
my DS loves to listen music especially when in car. In his bed time routine he also asks me to sing for him, he makes requests for example says "wooow wooow" to ask me to sing row row row your boat, "ee i ee i" for old mcdonald or "birthday" for happy birth day. I always believed this is normal but over the last few days I think I am losing my sense of reality. Fortunately, they are going to arange and urgent appointment for me to see a GP in a couple of days time.

of course that's normal! Sometimes when they talk about autism they might mention something that autistic children like - because its something that's unaffected. So for example you might hear 'children with autism like rough and tumble'. Well the truth is some do and some don't, like any other children, it's just that there's nothing inherent in autism that will affect a child's enjoyment of liking rough and tumble. But there's nothing sinister about liking rough and tumble.

Do push for a GP's appointment for yourself asap. Its horrible to be anxious about everything.

I may need one more advise. What is the best treatment for minor graze or scratches. I put a bit antibacterial ointment and left it open. I am worried as he may rub his face to the bed or other surfaces and it may make it worse.
Has anyone used germolene new skin? Does it work? Anything I can use for preventing a scar?
Maybe i should open a new thread for this.

I don't do anything, other than clean it if need be. Lots of air is the best treatment.

antibac and leave it open, i'd do what you've done. kids heal so fast, it's amazing.

Thanks for the advice and good luck margogambino.

Fattipuffsandthinnifers, to give an example, recently we went to visit old friends for the weekend and he seemed desperately unhappy the whole time. It was like we?d taken him out his comfort zone and he wasn?t prepared to let us. Normally I?d think it was a tantrum but he was so demanding the whole time that I felt exhausted by his behaviour and also, and I know this is selfish, quite embarrassed.

I?ve realised that I spend a lot of time trying to explain away his behaviour by wondering whether he might be feeling under the weather or in a bad mood or whatever, when in fact it?s pretty much a constant when he?s somewhere unfamiliar. The thing is that he can seem quite happy a lot of the time, but the change in routine seems to put him completely out of kilter.

Mrsturnip, thanks for the link to the CHAT test. I had a look and I must admit that although the results are inconclusive there are enough concerns for me to think that it would be a sensible idea to speak to my GP about him.

Has he had the MMR JAG and has he changed since having it >