Hi all,
I'm a really concerned parent and have been for a very long time and I'm looking to reach out for some guidance and opinions.
My son has just turned 3 last week and is my absolute world! We have been worried about him for a little while that he may show signs of being on the spectrum but he shows various signs to show that he isn't and this is where we would love some guidance.
His speech is behind in comparison to a lot of other 3 year olds we seem to see, he said his first words at 12 months and slowly gained single words and had around 120+ when he got to 2.5. he then started to combine 2 words together and at 3 now he is putting anything from 2 - 5 words together. we do seem to hear different words every so often. He requests snacks, more drinks, sometimes tells us when he's hungry, knows when we are sad or happy and requests his favorite TV shows.
some of his word combinations include:
put your shoes on mummy/daddy
wheres the big ball gone
put the phone down
is it under there - like he's asking the question
look spiderman top
mummy/daddy look big slide
tidy up time
i want it again
take trousers off wee wee
who's that
whats that daddy/mummy
whats that noise
there are others but he seems to prefer talking in 1-3 word combinations compared to other children who seem to be putting consistent sentences together. his speech isn't the clearest either and he struggles to replicate what we say to him and can be quite muddled.
He points, waves, brings us toys to play with, loves joint attention.. Great eye contact .. Always requesting that we look at him when he does something, he's always showing us when he has a snack as a recognition for having something yummy and will always point out aeroplanes or birds in the sky.
We don't see much imaginary play unless we ask him to 'clean the dishes' or 'feed his teddys'... He doesn't do much unless requested. He's obsessed with puzzles, basketball, running and building towers.
some of his imaginary play includes:
pushing his buggy along the pavement and saying broom broom or choo choo
pushing cars along the floor at home and making car noises
playing his with train set and putting the characters in their cars and naming them mummy daddy and his name
playing with his role play doctors set - checking our heart beeps and giving us injections but wont extend that to his teddys without being prompted
pretends to run around the house and bing an aeroplane
pretends to wake his teddys up by shouting WAKE UP
The bit that really concerns us is when he watches TV he is constantly jumping up and down on the spot and flapping. He used to flap his hands a lot more but doesn't seem to do that as much now. it seems to be more jumping but sometimes accompanied by flapping.
As for conversations he can respond to most things but struggles with 'what did you do today'... He seems to give the exact same answer everytime, like its been memorised.
he is ABC, Numbers, shapes and colour obsessed - he could recite his alphabet by 2 years old and can even do it backwards now, which is crazy! ........
he loves toys with lights and buttons.....puzzels and generally playing with a ball!
He attends nursery 3 times a week and isn't the best at sharing but does play alongside children fine. Everything has to Be on his terms or hell will erupt!
I am really keen to seek the opinions and guidance from you and thanks for taking the time to read this.
Thanks