22 month old seeing GP tomorrow for possible autism - what should I expect?

[ARockNRollNerd]

I hope it's ok if I post here.
I'm feeling quite emotional and need to get some stuff out in the open.

My 22 month old DD is going to the GP tomorrow. This visit was booked a while ago as she's got less than 10 words and we've been advised to get her hearing checked.
Since booking this appointment I've been looking around online and I've read a few things which made me wonder if she's autistic. I've done the M-CHAT thing which came back with moderate ASD risk.

I really don't want to overact, friends keep saying that toddlers so these sorts of this and it's no big deal, but I don't want to underact either as I keep seeing it's important to see someone as soon as possible, but is 22 months too young?

I've made a list of things I've found that can be related, incase my mind goes blank tomorrow.

Delayed speech
Spins in circles
Bangs head on hard objects
Grabs finger/arm to do things for her or get things for her
Obsessed with water
Flaps hands
Obsessed with buttons or button shaped objects
Minimal eye contact
Ignores when called
Inappropriate laughing at others being hurt
"Talks" loudly
Arranges toys in row/everything has to be same way up
Very recently started eating only certain foods
Started walking at 16 months, crawled at 9 months

What can I expect to happen if I mention this to the GP?
Will he tell me these are normal toddler traits and/or that she's too young to be diagnosed?

I'd really appreciate any advice on this.

I so badly want to do the right thing for her but I just don't know what the right thing is.

It sound like you've had an infuriating time with health professionals and your dd. I had a similar experience with ds1...he was diagnosed this year at nearly five.

There's a book called 'An Early Start for Your Child With Autism' that has great tips for very young kids with asd, but the strategies are like regular play so are also useful with typically developing children (at least I find then useful with both ds1, who has ASD and is 5, and our ds2, who is only 9 months!). If you continue to feel asd is a possibility it's worth getting.

There's a lot you can do to help your DD while you wait for some decent help from the professionals. I would recommend looking at teachmetotalk.com or buying the Hanen book "More Than Words" (horribly expensive but very good). My local library also had good books on how to help your child communicate which I used when I first had suspicions that DS might have autism.

Also (and this is slightly tangential but might be worth looking into at some point in the future), there appears to be a strong link between autism and certain food intolerances (especially gluten and dairy). Many have reported significant improvement in their child's symptoms of autism from getting their child checked for such allergies and removing relevant foods from their diet. It's linked to a theory called "leaky gut syndrome".

I'm afraid I know little about it and I don't think it's something my child suffers from but if you do a Google search you will find lots of information on it. Again, maybe one for the future but since you mentioned a milk allergy I thought it might be worth mentioning.

Definitely ring the HV and ask her (or him) to do a SOG/SGS assessment www.gl-assessment.co.uk/products/schedule-growing-skills

We're in Somerset too and my 16 month old is showing signs of autism. My 9 year old has aspergers syndrome and my 7 and 2 year old's both have other special needs which has helped with the HV taking us seriously. She has said a referral won't be accepted until he is 2 but she sees him every few months and will see him more often if I ask.