Autism signs at 9 months?!?

[AliceCherry]

Okay, so my 9-month-old has started rocking back and forth A LOT. He'll do it when he's sitting on the floor (it helps him bum shuffle), he does it in his high chair (quite intensely), when he's in his cot, etc. He doesn't look pained when he does it. He seems amused with himself.

Now, I wasn't worried about it, until a 'lovely' mum came up to me at his sensory group and told me bluntly that it was an early sign of autism. So now I'm worried.

So, is there any truth behind her claim?
Progression-wise he's on track: he sits unaided, rolls, laughs, babbles, claps his hands, tries to stand, says words that are starting to sound like 'mama', 'dadda', and 'hello'. He doesn't crawl yet, but he's bum shuffling. So, he's not really behind in any other way...

I'm pretty sure autism can't be diagnosed until 3 years anyway, but does anyone have any info?!?

No, it’s not. Not on it’s own.
Not pointing, copying, responding to language, babbling etc would be much bigger concerns, although not in a 9 mo th old. It’s far too early for any kind of diagnosis. Don’t let the thoughtless comments of an uniformed individual steal this precious time with your baby.

I agree, on its own it's not a concern. If he wasn't on track in other areas and not responding to you or babbling then it would be more worrying. It's more likely that he's just learnt something new so keeps repeating it.

DD went through this a few months ago. She kept rocking back and forth and shouting 'row row' to get us to sing to her. She's 18 months now and has recently learnt to walk on her tip toes and spin round in circles, both of which she did repeatedly for the first few days but now does it less frequently. I spoke to her nursery and they weren't concerned, they said it was just that she had learnt something new and the novelty would wear off, which it's has.

If you're concerned then speak to your health visitor.

My 1 year old rocks in his cot and anywhere else if he's tired, it's a self soothing thing.