Early ASD signs?

[MrsR84]

Hi ?

I have an older brother who is severely autistic (now 32 years old), so I'm quite familiar with the spectrum. I gave birth to a son (our first child) 4 weeks ago and I'm absolutely terrified by the possibility of autism for him, having seen the turmoil my Mum has been through over the years (and still handles daily now - my brother has some pretty big tantrums these days and is so rigid that even getting him to do simple things can sometimes be impossible.

I know affected babies usually seem fairly normal, then appear to regress around 18-24 months...but are there any signs I'd notice earlier on?

Mum said my brother couldn't master sucking and lost loads of weight as a newborn, he was also a really crabby, screamy baby and she thought it was normal as he was her first child, then when I came along she saw a huge difference.

I know there's little I can do but wait and see, but if anyone could help put my mind at rest I'd be grateful - I've already had a highly anxious pregnancy as we lost our first attempt to a miscarriage last year, I'd like to relax now...but I understand parenthood might just about put pay to that, lol! ???? I'm VERY green with babies (ours is only the third I've ever held & hes been my first feed/nappy change/baby bath/clothing change etc!) so I have absolutely no point of reference for 'normality'.

Mum hasn't said shes spotted anything alarming yet, but I guess she wouldn't, to avoid alarming me when I'm already quite emotionally fragile from sleep deprivation & coping with a newborn.

I think your baby is far too young to reliably show signs of ASD. With hindsight I can look back to when my son was small and identify some pointers. But I had friends whose babies showed similar signs and they did not go on to have ASD. Speaking to other ASD parents, some say there was no signs of ASD until their children were well into toddlerhood.
I know it is so hard to stop worrying but try to take it a day at a time and enjoy your baby. Good luck.

Thank you, I had a feeling that might be the case! I hope one day they'll figure out why it happens & how to stop it, its so very cruel.

I think it's way too early to tell. My 3 yo DS almost certainly has ASD (awaiting formal assesssment, but we are pretty sure) and he showed no signs at all as a baby. Nothing at all until he was about 20 months old.

He took bottles well, slept well, weaned easily, self fed, played independently and with others etc.

I understand your anxiety, but please try not to let it overtake this wonderful time.

All the best and congratulations on your baby.

Aww Hun. I have a 4 year old with autism. I've recently found out that it runs in my fathers family (I have had no contact with my dad since I was tiny).

Please try not to worry.

My son was a very good baby. Hardly cried or fussed, fed well, gained weight and was a very smiley and content baby. But looking back I wonder if he was too good. He prefered to sit in his bouncer rather than be cuddled and he slept a lot. I now have a 5 week old and I've noticed differences already. She isn't as content and happy to be sat in her chair for more than a few minutes and loves cuddles but of course not all babies are the same

There were other signs as a baby. Including no eye contact and staring at certain objects.

When he was about a year old he would stare at the light in into my hallway which freaked me out at the time thinking I had a ghost lol.

He was a little late to sit up, crawl and walk but not really late.

There is so much more help and support these days for autistc children.

I agree, please try not to worry. Even if your little one has autism it can be so much different from your brother.

My oldest daughter has got autism and there was nothing to indicate it before she was about one and did not start to point or wave like other children. She was also really late to walk (26 months) and even though she babbled in a very advanced way very early, she did not say anything comprehensible before she was 2 1/2 - she is still very delayed in speech and has difficulties with pronunciation. But she's such a happy, little firecracker, and every day with her brings us so much joy, even though we also have our fair share of worries :-).

Her paternal grandmother thinks the diagnosis is wrong, because she can do imaginative play, has eye contact and talks a lot to us, but for us, living with her every day, it makes a lot of sense.

I know it's hard but try not to worry too much, there is so much more help and support now, and early intervention makes such a difference.

I found this article very helpful:
www.hanen.org/siteassets/helpful-info/articles/early-signs-of-autism.aspx

Good luck and congratulations with your little new baby

The problem is that different children with ASD present very differently.

You will have some who start off being very difficult babies, not sleeping much, not feeding well, being oversensitive to light/sound, crying lots, etc, etc.

You will have some like my DS who are incredibly easy babies - almost too easy as a PP said - very undemanding and very happy to potter around doing his own thing without seeking my attention in any way. He was slow to talk, no pointing, little understanding, etc. No regression.

You will have some who seem like little geniuses - in Charlotte Moore's excellent book George and Sam, her eldest who has ASD could recite long poems by the age of two, could read very early, etc. then seemed to completely regress.

With my DS, I had a nagging feeling something was "off" as early as about 9 months - he just didn't seem as engaged as the other children his age. At 12 months or so I was being to worry - he wasn't clapping, waving, pointing, making eye contact, etc and did not seem to understand a word I said. And at 15 months I knew it was autism (he got diagnosed a few months after that at 18 months). But for many ASD children the signs will not be apparent until 2 or 3 years old.

If you have a look at the MCHAT test online that will give you an idea of the things the experts look out for (things like not pointing, not waving, not bringing you toys to show you, not responding to name, bad eye contact, etc) but it is designed for toddlers 18 months old (which is pretty much the earliest any doctor will diagnose).

Please don't sit and worry for the next couple of years! Enjoy your baby. Even if he does have ASD (and the chances are very small!), you wouldn't know how severe it would be for many, many years (some children go from seeming very severe to almost completely losing all ASD symptoms many years later). My DS at 2.9 is an utter delight now - incredibly happy, very affectionate and loving, talks (although he does have a delay and speech disorder), understands us and has an adorable sense of humour. It sounds like your brother is at the severe end of the spectrum but please keep in mind how very wide the spectrum is.

If you do find yourself struggling with anxiety, please go and see your doctor. Many women find they have feelings of anxiety, paranoia, depression, etc. after birth so just keep an eye on yourself and if your thoughts start to become overwhelming please do seek help.

For the record, I am pregnant again and am going to try to take my own advice and try not to be constantly looking for signs! It's hard I know.

DS1 (2.8) has just been diagnosed. I didn't really start to have my concerns until around 18mo, but started off from 12mo in a way as I was waiting for words from him that never really came! He has about 3 now. So I started off looking at speech delay and it went from there.

However looking back our experience was very similar to Shootingstar, very easy baby, didn't realise how different until DS2. DS1 slept loads, happy to be left in the bouncer or playing in his cot with toys. Used to stare at our living room lamp for ages, never went through separation anxiety. I remember at around 7mo we went to a community picnic, a friend had him for 45mins and he never once cried for us. Eventually she brought him back because she thought it must be about time! Essentially she was waiting for him to 'ask' for us but it didn't happen. There were other little things that I thought he just maybe wasn't into, like he couldn't do group singing (I had to leave stay and play early as he screams at song time in a group there which they do at the end of the session, we went to a music group and it totally overwhelmed him), yet loves story time at the library with his CM, reading stories together and drumming on his own or with one of us.

However whilst we have to make some adjustments, he doesn't have severe autism so his symptoms/experiences aren't as challenging, if that makes sense. I have a relative with severe autism who is now in residential care as an adult and my family panicked a bit about DS1 being diagnosed, worried that the same experience will be repeated, but I don't think that will be the case. Like everyone else has said, it presents differently in each child and the spectrum is so wide.

Enjoy your beautiful bundle