Hi so totally new and nervous to this,
My ds is 19 months and Im worried hes showing redflags for autism. The healthcare nurse and gp dismissed my concerns at 14 months and said to come back at 18 months. We moved so our healthcare nurse changed and once again at 18 months I was dismissed and told to come back at 2 years of age. Argh! Im just really in a confused tough place and really need some advice. Im frustrated because my gp and health care nurse wont invest their time into us. I am googling like mad and getting nowhere as of course this diagnoses him as asd but how can i trust google! Im a special needs assistant so very aware of the red flags and only want to do the best for my child and help in anyway possible as early as I can. Autism doesnt actually scare me its not being proactive early on that scares me. My nephew has adhd and my other nephew is due to be assessed so that makes me more paranoid. He is so bright and charasmatic and makes us laugh everyday and god I love him more then words but something tells me something is unique here. Is there anywhere else I can look for help or anywhere or anything you found useful? Weve emailed a private intervention clinic this week. Some of his red flags are lack of pointing at things or showing me things but he will bring me things and when I say tata for mammy he brings over what he has,if he wants his bottle or a biccie he will stand near them at the counter and cry or reach up to it with both hands, sensory issues with sand and textures which makes feeding very fussy, he hated shoes until i got this awful light pair from tesco and now I finally got him wearing clarkes, eye contact can vary and if hes distracted can tune me out esp if the tv is on, sometimes i think hes hand flapping or just feeling his blanket🤔 he rarely waves but he says bye after a bit of me saying the word! He also says hello on the phone! My partner thinks im looking for problems which of course im not! Ds claps sometimes and loves music, tries sing along to songs, says up to twenty words ,finishes the end of a lyric in a song, will come if i call him, loves older kids and books but points to nothing just likes turning pages, he doesnt really acknowledge new ppl or toddlers around him at playgroup but he has people he loves i.e my mam or my partners dad! hes imitates me and pretends plays i.e pretends to be on the phone or feeds his teddy and has a great sense of humour, plays ball,peekaboo and hide and seek and uses toys appropriately... altho can get very moody and upset in places he doesnt know and doesnt like being in the car unless im prepared with drinks n food etc, he still wakes like a newborn too like every 3 hours! I dont want to go on n on! But any advice would be great, im my own enemy! Any advice to this first time mam wouldbe great thanks! X