Autism and toddlers

[HedgehogsDontBite]

I read a thread on AIBU which prompted me to do the M-CHAT screening thing for DS (18 months). The results said 6 - medium risk requiring further investigation. I feel all confuddled now.

When I was pregnant I was pretty convinced DS would have autism. My daughter and I are autistic and so is DH (although not formally diagnosed). This changed once he was born. All along he's been so much more social and engaging, even complete strangers find him utterly charming. He seems to have some magical ability to connect with people which the rest of us are completely bemused by.

But most of all there's just mother's gut instinct. I knew something was different about DD right from the start. I didn't know what it was but I always knew she was struggling. She was eventually diagnosed at 15. That warning bell inside me just isn't ringing for DS at all.

Should I be worried?

What behaviours/traits is he showing that are concerning you?
Is he struggling in any areas?

If you don't feel concerned about him then you don't have to anything. You can always discuss with GP/HV or you could wait a few months and re-do the MCHAT and see if he scores any differently.
Or you could ask for a referral now and get him on the waiting lists (which are usually pretty long!) but they might say to wait and see as he is only medium risk rather than high risk.

remember, the m-chat is only a screeing tool for risk, nothing to dx.

what exactly worries you. you probably know that there is a strong genetic link for developing asd and having parents and a sibling on the spectrum will put him at a higher risk.

If you are worried, maybe talk it through with your GP or HV to see if a referral is warranted.

The only thing that concerns me other than his genes is some aspects of his language development. He doesn't respond to his name at all and doesn't appear to have any grasp of 'no' yet. He babbles and chatters all the time but only has 3 words, mama, dada and tack (thank you in our neck of the woods). Of those he only uses 'tack' regularly and that's to indicate that he wants something. He seems to understand more though eg he laughs at the bit in his book where the pig falls off the chair or he'll put his hands out and shrug in a 'dunno' way when I ask him where something is.

But of course this could just be his development route and he'll get there in the end.

So glad I just came across your thread. I'm going out if my mind with worry over my dd. she is 18 months old and very different to my other children. When I then start looking into things and have now looked at the M chat questionnaire my dd score is 11. Am I best going to gp or hv ??? Please advise me x

Hedgehog, has his hearing been checked?

Angel, we went to our GP and asked to be referred to a developmental paediatrician, but in some areas I believe CAMHS handles ASD referrals. So GP would be a good starting point.

No he hasn't had his hearing checked. I'll ask about that at his upcoming health check. It's weird though. I can say his name 20 times with no response at all, but if I say his name followed by 'look at mummy' then he'll turn.

I spoke to his nursery teacher today and feel a lot better. She says he's completely fine, that he's a bit slower with some aspects of communicating but that he's still well within the normal range and they can see the signs that he's getting there. More importantly she says overall he is very tuned in to what the other children are doing and can slot himself in instinctively. She can see that he's already very socially able. I feel like I can breathe again.