Early signs of autism in 6 month old?

[RosaM12]

I know I shouldn’t worry, and I know it’s too early to tell but I find myself wondering daily if my 6 month old baby has autism.
i work in a school so see how amazing children with autism are, but then worry that if he is.. where on the spectrum? & what does his future look like?

I’m looking for some similar experiences to signs that I notice in my son. Did you see the same? Did your child end up with a diagnosis?

His hands, arms and legs move A LOT. Constant. When in a bouncer or just sitting on my lap, he rubs his feet together. Then when lying down, he lifts and bangs his legs down or kicks them. He twirls his hands and waves his arms up and down. When he gets excited, his arms stiffen. I can not stress enough, how this is constant. I think the only time he does not do it, is when he is asleep.
I watch all other babies at baby group, and he stands out with how much he is moving. Also it’s so different from his sister or anything I’ve seen in family member’s babies.
Eveything goes in his mouth. Even when he doesn’t seem to be teething and not just toys. When we were sat at a table, the table had to go in his mouth.
He is also a terrible sleeper. Still wakes every 2-3 hours if I’m lucky.

But, then on the other hand, he does smile, babble, respond to his name. He maintains eye contact. He can sit up on his own and roll.

I know it sounds so silly. It wouldn’t change anything but there’s just something in my gut…

Sounds like any regular baby. Stop looking for things that probably aren’t even there! Why are people so desperate to label their kids this way?!

If he were autistic, what would you do differently now at 6 months? I reckon nothing - you'd do the same as you would if he were definitely NT.

Keep doing the talking, eye contact, games, singing, and counting that I have no doubt you're already doing. If he is autistic you can't change that and all of that will be good for him as it is good for nt children.

Give yourself an age (probably 18 monthsish) that you're allowed to worry about it again. Worry about it then instead of now.

This is good advice

I also worry a lot about my 9 month old, 6 months old is far too early to tell. They are exploring and most things are just a phase. The fact he’s responding to his name etc makes it unlikely that he has asd. I don’t think just saying enjoy your baby is particularly helpful. My advice would be keep busy, easy to spiral if you are just alone at home with your baby. It’s hard but try to park worries and think I’ll see how it is in a month for example. But tbh before 1 unless your baby’s behaviour was extremely atypical, there really is nothing that will be done, so try to park your worries and if you still have worries later, discuss with the health visitor at the 9-12 month review.

i knew within minutes of my 5th child being born there was something not quite right going on and by the time he was 8 months old I was telling my friends I thought he was autistic. I’d been thinking it for a few months before that though. When he was 2 he was diagnosed with Classic Kanners autism by world renowned psychiatrist/autism specialist Lorna Wing who said it was so obvious she could have diagnosed him on the doorsteps of Elliot House.

Op, I don’t know if your child is on the spectrum or not and my sons 35 now so I don’t really remember much from those days now I’m 68. All I can say is that if you have concerns about your child keep on writing them down and don’t let people try to tell you you’re bonkers for being concerned. Time will tell if anything is going on and if it is you’re already one step ahead of things.

This is good advice. Personally my son was diagnosed at 3 years old and there were early signs as a baby (not the movement thing you are seeing) but I agree with others is that this could also be signs of a typically developing child.

This is a useful book Understanding Your BABY's Sensory Signals: Amazon.co.uk: Voss OTR, Angie: 9781496152480: Books

For my autistic son my first concerns for him are noted at 6 weeks in his red book. I had other children and he was nothing like them. Specific concerns then were that he was very rigid when held, he looked at the light rather than my face when fed, he rubbed the skin off of his feet in his because he rubbed them vigorously in his pram and chair. He was dx autistic at 2 and a half.
When he was 8 I had my daughter. Initially she wasn't much like my son tbh although she too rubbed the skin off of her feet. I had a few niggly moments largely because she never cried and would lay awake in her cot for ages but determined I would enjoy her.
At 4 months I took her for a photo shoot, for one hour four of us tried to get a smile but the only smile she had was at a tigger teddy like the one on her mobile at home. That was when I started to pause and think.
My next worry was at 8 months I'd leave her with my friend and she didn't acknowledge my leaving or my return and she just looked so comfortable with my friend that it would be easy to think she was her mother. Also about that time I took her to the clinic and saw her alongside babies the same age. They were interactive and demanding dd sat really still silently observing.
Around her first birthday she began making a strange noise. GP saw her the day before at an appointment for another child she clapped and waved bye as we left. The following day I took her back because of the noise, GP gave her a full check over thought it may be a new sound she had discovered as there was no sign of illness or infection and advised me to go back if still worried. I took her again two days later as the noise continued, another check, another all clear Four days later the noise stopped but d had lost all her skills. GP referred to paediatrician the same day.
Paediatrician ordered chromosome and metabolic disorders screening when they came back clear he referred her for multidisciplinary assessment (she was 17 months) to look for autism. She received her dx the week of her 2nd birthday.

I have 5 children. 3 are diagnosed autistic and 1 is on the waiting list. I also used to work with children.

All the things your baby does are normal at this age. One of mine was showing symptoms of autism at this age. He didn't make any eye contact at all or smile. The paediatrician made an urgent referral to the eye clinic at 4 months because she thought he was blind.

My child is autistic and he is amazing. As are all the beautiful children I work with. Sorry you don’t agree.

I started to see signs around 10m, ds was very aloof and not that interested in engaging, he didnt babble. Screamed loads, constantly on the move and slept terribly.
I didn’t worry until he was nearly 2 and still not talking then I got hv and salt involved who agreed there could be something. They referred to paediatrician at 2 who put he on asd pathway. He was diagnosed at just over 3.
it’s so hard to tell at such a young age I’d try to park it and worry in a year if there’s any reason to.

Have a child diagnosed AuDHD. Dad is ADHD and lots of family members diagnosed both sides. I noticed really early at 18month check. I was dismissed at ASQ checks by Health Visitors this was just after everything opened with Covid. My child was a very early walker but incredibly clumsy. Was a very early talker with precocious vocabulary. Tiptoe walked. Spun. Flapped. Stimming. Not great with eye contact. No fear of strangers. Would wander off with no fear at all. Lined vehicles up constantly. Was reading by 3. Diagnosed by 6. Everyone around me said I was reading too much into things but having worked in SEND my gut told me something was a little different. I observed a lot and was very sure despite lots of people telling me I was overthinking. I didn’t know by 6 months but by 18 months I was pretty sure. As soon as child was at nursery at 4 it was also flagged by staff mainly due to ability/ social emotional difference. I didn’t mention to nursery school staff before as wanted to see if other professionals picked it up to confirm my thoughts.