Ds4 is 2yrs 7mths. He has three older brothers one of which has autism.
I have had mild concerns about some aspects of ds4s development. He has many behavious which are on the autistic spectrum but does not seem to have an autistic personality( by which I mean he sems fairly switched on and with it as opposed to ds3 who often seems blank.)
He was referred to SALT and we luckily got a cancellation. At the assessment he refused to look at the toys and took off his shoe and played wuth the buckle. It took a long time for the SALT to get him to interact in any way. She feels that his comprehension is at a two year level and also his language. What concerned her was that his communication, listening and attetntion skills are considerably more delayed. I did not ask as I was shocked at how poor he seemed. She feels he only uses language on his own terms, which is true. He can say "want biscuit" and other two word phrases. However he mostly just whines or screams for things and we have to say to him "out swing" or whatever and he will then repeat it but will not spontaneously use it. He is not consistent on namimg common animals and seems nowhere near recognising colours. When she did get him to interact he would not follow her instruction even if he could understand it. Everything he does is on his own terms. For example he could understand "Give me the fish" but would pick up the bird instead. He could not follow "Put dolly on chair" etc.
He spent a large part of the session trying to escape and whining and saying "lets go". He acn use longer phrases but I can tell these are learned. The SALT said he has good eye contact (but so does autistic ds3). He has been referred for some SALT sessions.
To be honest this appointment was him at his best. We have been seen by audiliogy twice where he has been so distressed they had to open the door and let him out of the room as they were afraid he would injure himself (throwing body against door, banging head on it way beyond calming down). He has also been seen by ds3 paed who could not get him to interact so I had to carry out the tasks. Ds4 was also very distressed at this appointment. The paed did not seem too worried but noted that he had some behaviours and will review at three.
I am not really sure what to make of ds4. He says hello and bye unprompted. He seems with it and perky. He recognises people. He imitates well but cannot yet extend this. When playing with trains he makes choo choo noise. He goes to mother and toddlers, he seems fine but will shy away from children if too noisy and always spends part of the session laying on the floor staring at ceiling.
On the down side he spins objects, lines up and flaps (although the flapping may be copying ds3). His speech shows no sign of becoming conversational. He often lays his head on the floor sideways or upside down and runs cars or trains through his line of vision. He has a lot of routines although these seem about dominance rather than security(for ds3 routines are definately about feeling safe). He has masses of tantrums although they are pretty much over not getting his own way. He is very repetive and will say "want biscuit" over and over until biscuit is in mouth. He gets very distressed when the hairdresser comes to our house,she is unable to cut his hair. He will not allow GP etc to touch him. He will only look at books on his terms.
I could go on and on ( in fact already have).
Any opinions or advice welcome. My head is spinning.