Help! 19 month old with ASD red flags. What to do?

[ShovingLeopard]

My beautiful 19 month old DD saw two SALTs last week for a swallow assessment. She got the all clear on that, but the therapists picked up a few behaviours they said show she requires further assessment.

Having had a chance to observe her at home now following their comments, I am very concerned that she is at risk for developing/is developing ASD. She is poor at eye contact when focussed on something (usually a toy or a book), and often doesn't respond to her name when called, if she is engrossed in something. When asked to look in my eyes she sometimes gets annoyed. She is not very interested in other children, and doesn't seem to mind if we go out of sight for a time. She can say quite a few words, but doesn't tend to use them functionally. On the other hand, when we are joking with her or singing she maintains great eye contact, will laugh and hold our eye-gaze while we are connecting. She looks pleased to see us and other people she knows, will grin broadly etc, sometimes bring us stuff to show us, does a little pretend play etc. Waving good-bye is hit and miss, sometimes it happens unprompted, but mostly it is prompted (which she occasionally ignores). It is like a fog descends upon her at times, while at others she seems fully alive.

We have been referred for a SALT speech and communication assessment, but we waiting on a date. I am extremely stressed and upset (apologies if that sounds insensitive to those on this board), and desperate to know what I can do to help her. Everything I read suggests early intervention results in the best outcomes. What can I do now to help her? Does anybody have any recommendations for books or websites to read?

Also, can anyone let me know what the process is for diagnosis and getting support? Assuming the SALT says there is cause for concern, as I am expecting, what happens next? Does she get referred to a paediatrician? How long does it take? We are willing to go private to speed things up, but don't know who we should see, in what order.

Also, I am aware there are various therapies available, like ABA, Floortime etc. Is there funding for these? Has anybody any experience with these for such a young child, and/or before diagnosis?

Sorry for the mammoth set of questions. I am just very worried and trying to get things moving for my DD.

hi my youngest son is 17 he has high functioning autism .your daughter is likely to get referred to an early bird programme if in scotland if they think there is cause for concern they reckon early intervention helps because they will work on stratagies with you .if you contact the national autistic society they will send you loads of info they also have work shops all over the country these are usually free or resonably priced .but please remember things can help but autism can never be cured .my 17 year old is a social disaster but he is working alongside his brother as a joiners apprentice so please dont think its all doom and gloom .

sorry just saw your thing about ABT .the national autistic society do workshops to show you how .but its very intensive more like training a dog well in my opinion

Thanks so much for both your replies.

April I am so glad to hear your DS is doing well.

Polter thanks for that info link. I have no concerns about DD's hearing. She can hear the Peppa Pig theme tune very clearly! Also, if I keep calling her to get her to look at me when she is busy with something she gets very annoyed, so I know she has heard me, it's that she doesn't want to stop what she's doing and look at me.

www.peatni.org
"PEAT is a parent-led charity that provides practical behaviour support to all families across Northern Ireland who wish to avail of behaviour analytic intervention in their home environment. PEAT also provides training to organisations/agencies working directly with individuals with autism spectrum disorder."

Even though it is an NI charity, there is a lot of infomation which could be helpful.

www.simplestepsautism.com/?lang=uk
The Online Teaching Platform for the treatment of Autism.

Caudwell children will put £400 towards ABA if the household earns less than £45K.

Thanks so much, JS, that gives me a lot of great links.

I am in London, but the info on the Peat site is very helpful.