Signs of autism at 12 months

[HomelyK]

Could someone please tell me if my worries are valid or not about my 12 month old son. He had severe reflux as a baby and allergies that only got figured out around 6 months old so he spent most of the first 5 months crying.

So things he is doing well...
Understands simple instructions- come here, ta (gives me items) hair- touches my hair, - high five gives me high five and fish he will go to fish tank. He looks for dad when i say dad but not for me when said mum

• has great eye contact and reciprical smiling
• has begun pointing about a month ago for things he wants but doesnt always look at me when he does it. He also follows peoples points most of the time
• he shows me items by holding them up when playing
• will imitate some actions on toys such as if i bang something he will or if i put a brick on a tower he will add one
• he responds to his name most of the time

So this all sounds great but...

• he doesnt imitate clapping or waving he just smiles but then does imitate high fives and feeding people his food
• he used to play peekaboo when asked and found it hilarious but doesnt anymore but my gut says hes moved on to other things
• my big concern... Hes still not babbling. No consonants apart from mmmm and an occasional ga. He mainly growls. Sometimes to us sometimes not. He has begun playing with vowels in the last 3 weeks and will use a grunt n sound to get our attention.....
• shows more interest in adults than babies but to be fair we havent seen any during lockdown since he was 9 months old.

Is this sounding like autism to anyone? Please reply as I am so worried :(

Hi HomelyK,

Sorry you are so worried about your little one, it is extremely stressful when you have concerns over development.

There aren't any red flags jumping out at me from what you have described. He is still very young, but what you are describing seems neuro typical. He understands what you are saying, responds to you and is as sociable as can be under recent restrictions.

Your concerns about speech, remember the 12-18 month window sees lot of changes in their development and this is particularly so with language. They are also starting to walk and explore, so you may see some areas of development slow while he is mastering something else, and it will then pick up again. Continue talking/playing with him, sharing with him, reading/singing with him and listening to him.

By 12 months I knew with my eldest something was wrong because he didn't understand anything I said, had no speech or sounds, did not want to engage with people he didn't know. The 12-24 month window of his development highlighted the red flags that signalled autism and learning difficulties.

In contrast ds 2 had early (but not too advanced) speech and understood everything, but wasn't very sociable or interested in others or sharing. I had a gut feeling something was "off" at 8 months with him. We questioned for several years if he was also on the spectrum and as he started nursery/school, his issues became increasingly obvious. He has asd and ADHD.

My dd different again, had very little words at 12 months but after she had mastered walking, her speech really took off.

Keep a note (say monthly) of what he is saying, sounds making and how he is playing. This is helpful if you want to refer back and also makes a nice keepsake to tell him about when he is older and ask you questions about when he was a baby.

I this helps, but if you are that worried please speak to your Health Visitor or GP for reassurance and advice.

Thank you so much for replying :) My boy isnt very smiley with new people but once hes been with them for half an hour he generally smiles and becomes more engaged. I think hes just the type of child to take time to warm up? Where as for us, his grandparents and adults he used to see regularly he is pretty engaged and doing everything i said. Hes started following my gaze more and using different growls and exciteable sounds and vowels to show emotion and request food alongside a reach or point which is new so hoping the speech will start. I just worry his growl is some type of vocal stim as he does it to himself as well as to us.... Thank you for telling my about your children. When you say no sounds for your little boy, did he say anything and does he now?

You are welcome.

I understand your concern over the growling and lack of sounds.
There are some very interesting papers with regard to canonical babbling and asd in babies, and that is why I recommend parents who are worried, keep a note of speech and sounds as you just don't remember it all. As he is continuing to progress with his speech that is a good sign. I know its hard not to worry when you are watching everything they do, waiting to hit the milestones etc.

My son's stims were physical and vocal, we had some hand flapping, quivering (his whole body) and he would make a noise repeatedly from his throat like a deep humming sound. The stims would change every so often, I would suddenly think oh I haven't seen him do (whatever) for a while, then something else would appear.

He had virtually no babbling or vowel sounds, although he wasn't silent. He was about 3 when we had a handful of very basic words, but not mum or dad, these came a bit later. Alongside this, was the complete lack of interest or ability to understand what we said. I remember pointing at cars going past while out for a walk and he didn't follow my gaze, look at me, no interest at all. Yet he did engage with us, loved to be held and tickled, but there were lots of red flags very very early.

He is in his early 20's now (I had a very big gap after him, then had another 2 younger children). He has come a very long way, and I have shared on here to other parents who are so worried about the future for their children. He has got a severe receptive speech and language impairment which means he doesn't always understand what you ask him, so keep it simple and if you are asking him to get something for you, you have to make sure he knows what that is. He also has a learning disability and is not at all sociable. However, he can get by with basics and if something is familiar.

I would say don't get too tied into researching it at the moment, just watch, record and encourage him. If you don't see progress or other behaviours emerging, then take it further, but he sounds like is doing well. Enjoy him

Hi @HomelyK how’s your little one now?

Hey! So weird reading all this back!

Our little boy is 5 now and apart from ADHD being queried he is an absolute chatterbox and doing really well in school and socially. We believe his growling was partly due to severe tongue tie. It was recut at 11 months, babble came at 14 months and by 18 months he had 10 words. By 2 he was saying over 100 words and it went well from there.

Our youngest who is 22 months old and is similar in that he understands everything but he doesn't growl instead he babbles constantly. He says dadda, yeh, more, go, down, Ta, horse noise, popping lips for fish, zz for bee. He wasn't saying anything at 18 months. But his social skills are beautiful as is his understanding so I know it will come.

Are you worried about your kiddos?