Autism signs in 18 month old

[Chester1980]

I am looking for advice for my 18 month old. These are the things I am concerned about:

• he is an extremely fussy eater (he does have some allergies, which may have impacted this)
• he does not respond to his name
• he has 4/5 words at a push
• his babbling only really consists of dadada
• he does not nod for yes / no
• he does not try and make animal sounds
• he’s not a good sleeper (he’s still breastfed and we co-sleep though. I’ve never sleep trained)
• he lines up his toys with wheels a lot
• stomps his feet when excited

However, he does do the following

• points
• waves hello and goodbye
• plays with things like feeding his toys
• pretends to speak on the phone
• makes eye contact and smiles a lot
• runs after other children to play
• gives you his food to eat
• grabs my hand to play and follow him
• cuddles into me
• follows instructions to “if you’re happy and you know it”, touches his toes if you sing “head, shoulders, knees and toes”
• he started walking at 10 months and is meeting all physical milestones

Apologies - I had a long post and deleted it by mistake, and so this version doesn’t elaborate as much. Due to lockdown, we haven’t been able to gauge how much he interacts with others - apart from trying to play with other kids at the park- but we need to socially distance them sadly :(

What do you think?

To add to the list, he also arches his back a lot, and doesn’t respond to “no” at all

Mines is similar age and the same. I wouldnt query autism for now. Mines is first child so I'd say shes developing at her own pace.

Shes very loud and gets excited by certain things and very happy in herself. Give it some time.

Most traits of autism are present in young children. Lining things up, having sensory issues, attention difficulties etc are all age appropriate for 18 months and he sounds like he has a lot of skills that make it seem like Autism is unlikely. However sometimes as mother we can get a sense of something and most children with Autism will have some but not all traits. At 18months is so very young. Try not to worry and just concentrate on having good quality fun interactions.

He is still very young. All my DC were late talkers, two of my DS loved everything being in order and would spend hours lining up cars or animals. One DS haa allergies and is also a fussy eater as he vomited alot when he was a baby. My last DS didnt sleep through the night until he was two.

We can all spend hours looking at the list of autistic traits in DC and many have them it doesnt mean they are autistic. Wait until the 2yr check and the HV will be able to advise you

You could fill in the M-Chat, but he's still super young for it I think.

m-chat.org/en-us/page/take-m-chat-test/online

Sorry that was a crap link but just google M-Chat and you'll find the questionnaires

It doesn't sound concerning to me. I think you need to just enjoy being with him and keep an eye on his speech. He might just be a late talker, or he could turn out to need some help with it, but I don't think he sounds autistic.

Have you had his hearing tested at all? It sounds like a lot of the things you list are language related rather than autism. Pretend play, pointing and eye contact are all very positive signs and things that my 9 year old with autism still struggles with.

You mention he has allergies, do these cause him to have ear infections which could affect his hearing?

Hearing test is a very good idea. My DS we found had poor hearing and used to lip read. So we found out later...felt very guilty at not picking it up.

My dd is autistic, from birth she was different from her sister! But from your list there's nothing that jumps out. At that age my dd has zero language (started around 3 years old, not fully verbal until 5) she didn't do imaginative play, basically she sat and screamed, or (if I was lucky) read books (we realised at 3 she could already read, had no idea until she got language!) BUT autism is so varied - dd was diagnosed just before her 3rd birthday, they warned me she could be very severe due to no language and constant screaming but actually she was mainstream schooled from 5 and is predicted a 1st at university, so it's hard to predict so young.

Thank you all for taking the time to comment.

His hearing was tested at birth and found to be fine. He’s jumped a few times at loud noises and does seem to hear certain words. He hasn’t had ear infections that I know of - he has bashed his ears in the past, but that was when teeth were coming through.

I think I have worried myself from googling early symptoms - based off the speech seeming to be behind his peers. His first word was not too far off a year ago - so it seems like a long time to have only really gained 3 or 4 new words (or sounds more than words). But while he’s not quite reaching his speech milestones, I guess it is still early days.

To add to this list - this afternoon he suddenly started walking on tiptoes!!

He’s a lovely boy. I will take the advice to enjoy him and just keep an eye on the speech.

Hi op, I was a senco in my nursery days and to be honest what your describing is pretty typical normal toddler behavior. Adding in the fact, we are in lock down. No socialising has a big impact on children, especially if they are only children, they've almost lost their role models.

I'm currently at home with a soon to be two year old, his language is limited compared to some of his peers but his understanding and physical skills are ahead of the norm. No child nor adult will excel in all areas of development at the same time, it's simply not possible. When he starts talking, he may stop doing something else, which again is totally normal.

You sound like a lovely mother, who is giving her son the very best she can. Try not to worry and just embrace who they are now (I say this as my son clambers over me) they change so so quickly.

Hi
how’s your little one doing ? ❤️