Autism in 16 month old - ADVICE

[meg1209]

My DS is currently showing a lot of signs of autism (no speech, stimming, not answering his name/ no understanding of commands, no pointing or shared enjoyment) he has now been referred for a proper assessment.

Just wondering if anyone else has an autistic toddler? Any tips on how to encourage him to speak?

I feel so anxious about it all, he is a wonderful baby with so many strengths. Selfishly I just want him so say mummy and communicate with me a bit more 😞

Thanks!

My son had symptoms from 2 months old but a referral wasn't accepted until he was 3 years old and he wasn't diagnosed until he was 6 years old.

Interested to know what signs of autism were seen in a 2 month old?

To add to that, my son first saw the GP at 17 months and was diagnosed at 2.5, it depends on where you live really.
I found SALT to be terrible really, it isn't intensive 1 on 1 which I thought it would be (some of the courses are how to speak to your child, keeping words simple and brief).
My son doesn't actually say any words at all (he's 7 now), but your son is still very young, there's still time 🙂
And you're not selfish for wanting to hear him call you mum.

OP it's easier said then done but try not to worry. Also arm yourself with information- there is a lot of good info about autism to be found in the internet. Stay away from the crazy competitive autistic Facebook groups and stick to reliable sources. Work with what you have, if your child is autistic you have to let go of the 'should be doing X/Y/Z by now' and go with the flow. I see a lot of parents getting themselves tied up in knots over what a child should be able to do at age 5, for instance, and cause themselves so much stress and upset whilst also losing sight of what their child needs from them.

I wouldn't have thought assessments would start until a child was 3/4. Although I got my diagnosis at 35.

Lots of children are diagnosed before 3

My son is 25 months and I asked for referral to SALT at 18 months. Finally seen at 22 months and they've made the referral to start the assessment pathway.

My son stims, spins, non verbal, low understanding, no pointing etc.

We've been working on associating words with items, so everytime we do a nappy change getting down to his level, showing him the nappy and saying nappy change. Same with coat, so showing him his coat and using the words coat on.

It's very very slow progress and we've slowly come to accept that he may never have speech
However, finding a way to communicate is far more important to us so at our next appointment I'll be asking about PECS and using makaton.

My son was diagnosed at 2. Similar to your son, there were quite clear indicators.

Get the ball rolling with portage and speech and language via your health visitor. It's mainly been about how I play with my son, we've been working on him requesting and understanding he can ask for more. It's lots of focused attention on him. We are making progress and he is a joy but it's slow and needs a lot of patience.

Best of luck 💐

My daughter is 3 and on the assessment pathway but it took well over a year to get to that point. We had to go through the GP/HV/paediatrician process to get the referral for an assessment and at 16 months the advice was essentially 'watch and wait' until she turned two.

I had concerns about my daughter from 14 months so it felt like a long time to wait but that just seems to be the process where we live.

The best thing I did was start private speech and language therapy and not wait for her NHS referral. She's only just had her first session with the NHS due to the huge waiting list and even then she only gets six sessions before automatically getting discharged and needing to be re-referred.

The SALT we pay for privately is expensive but worth every penny. My daughter is still non-verbal in terms of speech but has come on leaps and bounds in her attention, engagement and understanding and is beginning to use a system called Pecs to communicate. She is also making lots more noises that sound like speech if that makes sense. I have been so pleased at the difference.

Agree with poster above that object based communication is great for this stage. So something that symbolises the park, bath time etc. Keep it consistent

@RevolvingPivot

I wouldn't have thought assessments would start until a child was 3/4. Although I got my diagnosis at 35.

They start before 3/4.

@elelel

Interested to know what signs of autism were seen in a 2 month old?

Just seen this thread and wondering this too.

My son as a small baby was very peaceful, laid back, passive, loved physical closeness. But he wasn't very vocal about being hungry. Wouldn't try to copy us (Eg if we made animal noises etc) he was in his own world a bit. I couldn't say we knew at 2 months but at 8 months yes maybe.

Aah my son was fine until he was 13 months (was repeating dad, mumma), and then slowly stopped making eye contact and seemed distant. His eye contact is brilliant now though, he'll look anyone in the eye, but it wasn't until he was 3 he began to make eye contact.

I phoned my health visitor when my DS was 21 months old and told her I thought he was autistic;he was diagnosed just over a year later.

I would love to start private therapy, it is just so expensive. I feel like a failure because I'm unable to provide him with this, maybe I can try and learn some skills myself to teach him. I just don't know where to start.

I know he is young. And he does babble sometimes now, I just keep worrying that he will never talk.

He has no sensory issues bar stimming which i guess is a huge plus. He is also a really good sleeper and eater 🤞🏼

It sounds simple, but just keep talking to him, maybe look into learning some makaton too (using sign language with speech), Mr Tumble on CBeebies uses it, you could watch it with your son?

My eldest was diagnosed at 10. My youngest i knew was asd and he was assessed at 2 only because of the family history diagnosed with autistic "traits" and told to come back later if i was concerned. He was then diagnosed properly at 10 after years of fighting the schools etc

One early piece of advice I was given from SALT was copy how they play. Ex instead of showing them a car rolls along if he is just passing it from hand to hand then do the same. It shows him you are interesting and helps to engage. Once you have his attention you can then say car or attempt to do some sort of turn taking. A lot of SALT focus on learning communication through play. Try to tap into something they are interested in (in my case it was colours). Also echo the above, use single words repeated lots and with an object to show understanding. Especially for important parts of the daily routine. Blow some bubbles then put lid back on and place on the floor. Will he bring them to you to get you to do it again? It is a slow process. Don't give up hope.

Yes, in SALT they try and encourage the child to say "more" if they are trying to get you to do something, for instance blowing bubbles.

He has no sensory issues bar stimming which i guess is a huge plus. He is also a really good sleeper and eater 🤞🏼

It's important to remember that as with any other child, things change and this won't be where he is at forever. He is so young, and his needs, challenges and abilities will change as he grows. There is never a 'final' point - this is true for any human though, not just with autism.

@elelel and @notthemum. He was born at 36 weeks so under the neonatal paediatrician anyway. At 2 months old he wasn't smiling or making eye contact. If anyone smiled at him, talked to him, made baby noises etc at him there would be no response whatsoever. Although he would scream blue murder from a couple of days old if he was awake and I wasn't there.

When the paediatrician first saw him doing that she made an urgent referral to opthamology because she thought he had a serious sight problem. I suspected he had autism though as my eldest has it and so does dh. It took 6 years for an official diagnosis though.

Look into Portage. They will help you learn to play with him and give tips. I wouldnt pay for private yet but of course your choice. Google joint attention and those type of play techniques

In hindsight my son showed signs from weeks old. Such as not looking at my face, more interested in the wallpaper. He was referred at 15 months and diagnosed by 2.5. This was over a decade ago.
I just came on to say that he is now 14, and while he has many challenges (more to do with his learning disabilities than his autism), I get a lot of affection from him. He is mostly non verbal, so doesn't call me mum, but it really doesn't matter.

Thank you @elliejjtiny and @LegoLady95

I remember knowing DS was different at 4 months old but people think I'm crazy if I mention it, so I never do anymore. I wasn't able to 'place' what is was and back then I knew nothing about autism anyway - laughable considering I'm also diagnosed now! It's interesting to see others have pinpointed something in their babies too.