possible ASD in toddler

[susie1984]

I'm looking for some advice about what I should do next and whether or not my concerns sound justified.

A couple of months ago I started to become concerned about some of the things my 18 month old son (then 16 month old) was doing/not doing. My concerns started because of his fascination with playing with wheels, often turning his pushchair upside down to spin them. Shortly after this, I noticed that he was walking on tiptoes a lot, something he wasn't doing when he first started walking at ten months. This led me to start examining his communication and I started to think that his eye contact wasn't quite right and that his speech wasn't quite as it should be.

However, there is no doubt that I can be prone to anxiety - before having children, there were several occasions when I had convinced myself that I had severe health issues that were actually manifested by anxiety - so it was possible that this was the same thing.

I consulted the GP and my HV. The GP said she had no concerns, he was interacting perfectly well with her and she thought he was just exhibiting typical toddler behaviour. The HV was a little bit more reticent although she said she couldn't see anything wrong with his eye contact but she also said he was far too young to be able to tell and we should wait till his two year review.

Over the past couple of weeks, things seemed to have improved dramatically anyway. He has learned a couple of new words, stopped walking on tiptoes and his eye contact, joint attention and interaction - at least with us - seemed perfect. Then last night, a friend came to visit and the subject came up and she said that she did think that there could be something wrong and his behaviour often reminded her of her autistic nephew. She wasn't very eloquent when we tried to get her to explain her specific concerns but she's obviously noticed something is wrong.

This has set me off worrying again and now I'm wondering what to do next. We could afford a private paedaetric referral but I don't know if this is worthwhile or if we'll just be fobbed off. Has anyone had to go down this route?

Just as background, he points, waves claps, plays peek-a -boo, understands lots of language and follows instructions well. He doesn't say much though, he just has a handful of labelling words and although he knows I'm mummy, he refers to both me and his dad as daddy. His interaction is good with us but very hit and miss with other adults - is that a sign of ASD. He has no problems with other children though and will often play simple games with them.

Sorry this post has turned out to be so long but any help anyone can offer would be greatly appreciated.

If you're looking for a private Paed Daphne Keen is top of the field.

I can't say whether you have anything to worry about but I would say that there is enough there to investigate and I would NOT recommend waiting for a couple of years unless above mentioned Paed suggests this.

Have you had a look at CHAT? The checklist for autism in toddlers:

www.paains.org.uk/Autism/chat.htm

I'm not sure if the HV meant wait 2 years or wait until the 2 year check in 6 months star, either way I wouldn't like to wait around either especially if you're already anxious, I'd insist on a paed referral. They can take months to come through anyway, we waited about 6 months for DS to see the paed.

Sorry, I probably was unclear there - she definitely meant wait until his two year check. Thank you both for your responses though - Catching mockingbirds- I have looked at the chat checklist and these is nothing on there that would suggest a problem.

The only thing that might is if he was caught on an off day, he might not make proper eye contact with the person doing the assessment. His eye contact with us is great and its always good with other children, but it can be hit and miss with adults. For example, he made great eye contact with the GP when I was telling her my concerns and just yesterday he was making eye contact and smiling at a stranger on the bus, he's also always very interactive with my mother. But when my friend came round, his eye contact and interaction with her wasn't great at all. I can't tell if this is just shyness with some people or symptomatic of an issue.

What I don't want is to pay for a paedaetric referral, for them just to do the CHAT checklist and say there's no issue when in fact there is, its just more subtle than that at the moment. I will look up Daphne Keen now though, starlight, thanks for the recommendation.

My son probably wouldn't get a dx on a good day either.