Mamas when did you know your child was autistic?

[Purpletaco]

When did you guys know your little one was showing signs of being Autistic?
Im going to sound abit crazy my dd is 14 months she cannot walk, she doesn’t play with toys she will just hold them, she will sometimes press a button or open and close a door but not actually play, she use to eat everything feed herself the lot now she just throws it and doesn’t seem interested in food, she doesn’t clap, wave, blow kisses, high fives nothing like that, she was answering to her name and recently that has stopped, the only ‘command’ i would say she sometimes knows is come to mama, she will babble a lot the only clear words she says is dada mama (sometimes but rarely nana, baba), she loves tags on 3 soft toys which are connected together and she has to hold it constantly or rub it on her nose/face she even has to sleep with it or she will cry. She has recently found her hands she keeps putting them infront of her and she will just look at them. Those are just some of the things from the top of my head, I had her hv appointment at 11 months and the hv didn’t have any concerns but neither did I until she turned 1, she hasn’t got another hv appointment until Shes 2 but im thinking about booking another one..
Am I over reacting?
i feel like I might be but then i don’t know I have a ds who is on the way to being diagnosed with adhd/asd and he is 6 and I know you shouldn’t compare children but he played with toys from early on he did all the gestures he walked he understood early on he just couldn’t talk ect ..
Any advice is much appreciated

Speaking to the HV is a good idea whether it turns out to be ASD, something else or nothing.

It might help you to look at the Ages and Stages questionnaires.

@perpetualplatespinning
She’s in the grey / black area all throughout the questionnaire
I spoke to hv over the phone today and she said not to worry and just monitor it and we will revisit at 18 months.

Personally, I would push more now. If the HV won’t see you now, I would speak to the GP.

@perpetualplatespinning
Thank you i will book in with the gp, wasn’t sure if the gp would do anything because of her age thought it would have to be the hv.
Personally felt abit fobbed off by the hv because she kept saying oh because you have another child maybe your not spending as much time etc which was just making me feel shitty because I do everything I possibly can and it feels like it’s not good enough.

Definitely try the GP and if no luck keep trying every few weeks until you succeed.
I had 4 people from the health visiting team and the GP tell me nothing was wrong from 17-22 months when he was in black areas in his ASQ and scoringly highly on the ASQ SE, eventually wore them down to get the referral at 22 months when they still wanted to wait and see (I ve never bothered with health visitors again after that as they were so dismissive when I ended up being correct).

@1995SENNDMUM
thankyou I will be phoning the gp tomorrow for an appointment and I’ll just keep trying them every few weeks until shes atleast seen in person and my concerns are actually being listened too.

The GP can assess and refer onwards. Don’t let them fob you off by saying it needs to be the HV.

If you don’t get anywhere with the GP, contact the HV again. If that doesn’t work, complain to both the GP and HV.

I had strong suspicions about DD by 18 months and was pretty sure by the time she was 2. The health visitors were unconcerned until the 2 year check (which didn't happen until she was 2.5 anyway) and then she scored really high on the various questionnaires and everything fell into place very quickly.

We got a referral to the SEND health visitor - ours was called a Specialist Health Visitor, but in other places I think they are part of an Early Years Hub or have other names. Our SHV was an absolute godsend, she referred us further on to other teams who could help including an early intervention playgroup where we got 10 sessions with a few other children with similar needs. She also made the referral on to speech and language and OT, signposted us towards DLA and how to apply for an EHCP.

I've since found out that in my area you can self-refer so it is definitely worth a search to find out if there is anything similar near you.