Question re dc3

[Catsu]

Dc1 has aspergers. When he was little he had a speech delay, hardly any imaginative play until he was much older (school age), no sense of danger, fussy eater, lots of tantrums etc, lack of empathy, sporadic eye contact but was a v v easy baby, slept perfectly and always content. Very hard work as a toddler. I always 'knew' there was something

Dc2 showed no signs and was so easy in comparison as a toddler, is school age now and is completely in line with his peers

Dc3 is 18 months. Is very busy, similar to dc1 in that there is climbing, emptying cupboards all the time
Needs hardly any sleep, never has. Very short nap during the day and only ever 8-10 hours a night (usually with a wake up in the middle too)
Hardly eats much at all. Not fussy though, will reject cake or chocolate as often as reject fruit and veg. Never eats 3 meals in a day. Usually one or two on a good day.
Eats everything that's not food. Constantly putting things in mouth, particularly small things (Lego, marbles etc)
Lots of empathy, any sign of upset and dc will be stroking hair, cuddling, kissing saying 'aaaaahhhh' to try and make you feel better. Is the same with cuddly toys, very affectionate to them
Just started talking and is now picking up words quickly

What do you think? Are any of those signs or is just too early to say?

Catsu are you worried about DC3?

TBH it sounds a lot like a typical 18month old.

But then I'm not there.

With my DC1, I knew very early something was not right....probably about 8months. DC2 I kinda ignored as she was not so out of line as DC1 is; but she definitely has HFA type issues, which have been evident since about 5.
DC3, she's the one I keep looking at, wondering if I am being foolish as everything seems fine. Every tantrum, I wondered if it was a meltdown, every food refusal was a sensory thing to start. But as she gets older, I think, actually she's just fine also overtaking her older siblings on social skills.

Catsu, can't say nothing is jumping out at me, but... if you are concerned that's the most important thing.

DS1 was very, very shy, clingy and had significant speech delay, and I worried a lot about him. He's now still quite shy, but just a bit a lot geeky.

DS2 has ASD, but in comparison to DS1, I didn't worry at all. He wasn't at all clingy, what a relief, entertained himself with cause and effect toys, like shape sorters, ball helterskelters etc. Also had speech delay, but I was used to that. So I missed a lot of the now obvious ASD signs, like stalled development from about 15 months, losing eye contact, no imaginative play, constant need for movement etc.

DS3 I watched like a hawk. He's definitely quirky, but more Aspergers than ASD. No DX, very chatty on his own subjects, very cuddly, likes teddies, loves the computer. Has obsessions, first one was teletubbies, he used to group anything into fours, usually red, yellow, green and purple/blue. I always felt there was 'something' about him, but he hasn't needed a DX yet.

Keep your eye on the ball, do the mchat.

www.autism.org.uk/working-with/health/screening-and-diagnosis/checklist-for-autism-in-toddlers-chat.aspx

This one is more detailed. www.waisman.wisc.edu/connections/pdfs/webcast/M-CHAT%20handouts.pdf

He has a 25% chance of a DXable ASD as a male sibling, that's still a 75% of not having an ASD, but he might still be quirky.

I've just assumed it's a DS, sorry. If DC3 is a DD, then there's less chance of ASD, but maybe more chance of it being missed.