Signs of autism 15 month old

[Authentic2020]

I am increasingly worried about my nearly 15 month old son and I am suspecting he is autistic.

I would appreciate your thoughts.

The signs :

• no words so far,

• babbling doesn't seem to be frequent and often he would just repeat the same 'expressions' like "oohlalilali" or "abny"

I am starting to wonder whether his babbling is abnormal

• no pointing and waving, can clap occasionally

• not sure about his eye contact, it's there and it can be very good but it's often difficult to grab his attention

• doesn't respond to his name very well, I would say more often it's ignored, especially if he is engrossed in something

• he can copy sometimes (if you show him how to play with a toy, or if I shake my head, but he doesn't copy any hand movements), he can't imitate "pee-a-boo" with muslin cloth

• he doesn't copy sounds really, sometimes copies dadada or mama or the sound of clearing a throat

• he seems to be more interested in objects than interaction, although he can engage well and can be very interactive.

People would sometimes comment that he is sociable. Our HV also think he is sociable but that is usually not my impression when I am spending all day with him

• he is very independent, likes to play on his own, (he does seek attention from me from time to time)

• he is very active, can't walk yet but he loves his walker and can walk for ages. I usually take the walker with us and he can walk with it obsessively but he doesn't really check if I am behind him.

Our HV visited a week ago. She wasn't particularly concerned and will come back in three months but I don't know if I can wait that long.

At the moment I think that's is very likely that he is autistic and I am so worried.

I did Mchat although I know it's too early. He scored 8.

P.S. Sorry for any mistakes, English isn't my native language

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to post on my son's progress for people who have similar concerns.

My son is now 17 months old and I am happy to see his progress. He still can't wave but he is often reaching for things and he started using his index finger to touch pictures in books. He sometimes spontanously points to his teddy or birds outside the window. He also pointed to my nose recently when I asked "where is mummy's nose"? It seems like it took ages for him to learn it but I am happy he finally clicked.
He is also more responsive to music, he is moving to the rhythm or humming sometimes. He is better at copying my movements - if I touch my head he will touch his, if I clap my hands or thighs he can now copy those movements.

We had a video call with the community peadiatrician nurse.(I thought it would be the community peadiatrician). She was good though. She referred us to the peadiatrician but it might take months before we get an appointment.
She also asked if it's ok to speak to our son's nursery (I hope to get feedback from nursery today, my son goes there 2 days a week).
The peadiatrician nurse also referred us to the speech therapist.
The NHS speech therapist phoned me yesterday. I explained my concerns and she said that it's good that I pay attention to those communication issues. She gave me some tips how to facilitate and encourage communication with my son, she will also send a booklet with tips. We can contact them if we have any concerns.
It sounds like there is a possibility to start the therapy quite early if we want to.
I asked if, based on her experience, it's possible for my son to catch up with langauge and communication or it might be something serious. She confirmed what I was suspecting - she saw children catching up with no further issues but it might be a sign of autism or language disorder.

Tomorrow we have a zoom call with the speech therapist from Grow Communication chairty, it would be great to get a bit more in-depth initial assessment.

We are still waiting for hearing test referral.

Hi! How’s your little one doing now? It’s nice to read how much progress he’s making now. I’m having a similar experience with my LO and don’t know where to turn. Would Grow Communication talk to us now? Or is it still too early?

I should have mentioned there! He’s 15mo

Hi @Sthc1909

My son seems to be doing really well. He loves his nursery, last week we were told he was "the life and soul".
He has a couple of words, he loves books and he is pointing and babbling a lot.

You could drop a message to Grow Communication with your concerns and they will link you with specialist speech therapist. You can discuss your concerns over the phone free of charge before deciding if you want to go ahead with the assessment.

I don't know if 15 months is too early but I could see huge progress in case of my son month by month, he was a different baby at 16 and then 17 months. There were lots of things I was concerned about when he was 15 months and I am no longer concerned about them now. Except his delay in gestures.
It hit me again when the speech therapist showed us the graph with all the typical gestures and the average baby's age when the gestures emerge. In case of my son almost every gesture was delayed by quite a few months. For example he started raising his hands to be picked up at 15 months, pointing at 17 months, properly waving at 18 and at the age of 19 month he can shake his head for a "no" (and enjoys saying "no" a lot!).
From what I was told and read he might catch up ok or there might be something more serious. We were told we will get a clearer picture when he is a bit older.

We had an initial assessment from the speech therapist linked to Grow Communication, she has 20 years of experience and she was lovely. She confirmed he is delayed.

@Authentic2020 hello, just wanted to know how your son is doing, what’s the update? He sounds like a lovely little boy

Hi @Khay1234

My son is now 22 months and he is doing well.

I stopped counting but he has at least 100 words (in 2 languages).

He seems to be quite sociable, he often talks to us (single words) or babbles and he has a good attention span for books. We didn't do any private speech therapy at the end but we followed some general tips from NHS speech therapy leaflet that was sent to us. I found "More than words" book also useful.

My son can be quite whiny at times and he gets frustrated easily but I suppose that is a toddler thing and most of the time he seems to be happy and cheerful.

I don't worry about him anymore but I am going to keep an eye on his development as he was delayed.

We have an online app with a paediatrician at the beginning of March (my son was referred many months ago) so it would be good to see what he says.

@Sthc1909

How is your little one doing?

He’s actually doing really well!

We still have some concerns regarding his social communication, but between 15-18 months he’s developed quite a bit:

• he has 3-5 words (‘oh no!’, ‘Teddy’, ‘Duggee!’ he recently waved and said ‘Hello!’ out of the blue a few times and has started to make sounds that could be ‘Mama’)
• more responsive to his name. He probably responds 40% of the time now
• understands some simple instructions like ‘arms up!’, ‘come and get your milk’ and ‘show it to Daddy’ (usually when I’ve read the book 10 times and it’s daddy’s turn 😂)
• points with some context, he will point to his book shelf at night time and will point to the sky when I ask, ‘where are the birds?’. He’s just started doing this recently.
• will give ‘kisses’ if he feels like it when we ask

He has a massive love for books and rarely shakes his head anymore. He hand flaps occasionally. His eye contact is a lot better, we’ve tried really hard to not force it, but lots of floor time playing and singing has encouraged him to be more comfortable with eye contact I think.

Our HV was so helpful and actually referred us for SLT straight away. We’re still waiting for our app. My main concern at the moment really is that he is unable to identify most things in books or in real life. We’ve been working on this will him by using more tactile books (i.e. ‘stroke the dog’ on a touch and feel book) and describing a lot of what he doesn’t (I.e ‘you’re eating a banana! Yummy’)

I’m definitely less concerned and fee a little more of a what will be, will be attitude. He’s just fantastic and affectionate. He loves chase games and is sleeping better than he ever has. He’s actually shown a lot of improvements since he started going to a childminder instead of nursery - I’m not sure if it’s just a coincidence or spending time with children that are a little older (they’re ages 2-5 there).

Sorry, this message ended up being a lot longer than expected! I’d love to hear more about you LO’s speech development. Was there a moment that words just started coming thick and fast?

Hi @Sthc1909

Your son seems lovely and it sounds like he is coming on:)

I felt such a relief when my son started saying words and pointing (and it all started happening between 16-18 months)

When it comes to identifying things in books or body parts - that also came quite late. I remember trying to teach him to identify and say a word "nose" weeks before he was 17 months. He finally clicked at 17 months and started pointing to my and his nose and his very first word was "no" for nose.
He then slowly started picking up other words and by the time he was 20 - 21 months old he had about 50 (I kept a list of his words but stopped at 50 as it was harder to keep up and I wasn't concerned at this point anymore). He def has more than 100 words now, maybe 200?
He doesn't say two words sentences yet, just single words.

A week ago we had an online app with a paediatrician (referral was made months ago). She said she will see him in about 4-5 months for a check up, just in case, as he was delayed

It’s not too soon to have concerns and if you are wrong you will not have lost anything. Have you tried the M Chet test ? It’s very useful for screening for early signs in young toddlers . Some of the things you mention are potentially concerning and the M Chat is a good way to see where the deficits may be

oh the thread's old - but might help someone else

@Authentic2020 how is your little boy

@Newmama232

He is now 4 years old and mostly seems fine.
But I still have some concerns.
He probably has a motor stereotypy. I think he had it since he was a baby and recently nursery staff mentioned about it to us but they actually advised it could be "stimming"
No other concerns from nursery but I think going to school might be a real test for him. I ocassionally notice some rigidity and lack of flexibility in his behaviour that worries me.

(Motor stereotypies are common, repetitive, rhythmic movements with typical onset in early childhood. While most often described in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and intellectual disability (ID), stereotypies can also present without developmental delay and persist into adulthood.)

@LittleDoveLove
@Newbiehere123

It's been a long time.
How are your children doing?

@Sthc1909
How is your son?

Hi. My little one turned 4 this month and He started pointing at 17 months showing or requesting but before that it was eye contact when showing something of interest, requesting for things or showing things of interest with words started at 2yo. He is slightly speech delayed and receiving private therapy for the past few months. Nursery has been great for him and he has formed friendships and created a little gang. We chat a lot, he loves being read to, he goes swimming which is going well but his emotional development I would say is more like a 3yo. Sometimes it feels like I am trying to reason with a 3yo rather than a 4yo iyswim but then again there are other 4/5 yo I see at his swimming club that have meltdowns too. My little one is referred to a ent clinic as we suspect sleep apnea which apparently does explain some of his behaviour with poor concentration, irritable, not listening, little appetite and these laps with days where we have had poor sleep the night before which is frequent but days where he has had good sleep he behaves like a typical 4yo.

My son is now 4years and 7 mths old.
I still have concerns but it's not enough to be taken seriously by the GP I think.

He is stimming/has motor stereotypy.
He has frequent meltdowns, can be quite loud!
Often refuses to go to nursery (2 days a week)/ seems to be very anxious when leaving.
Doesn't talk to his teachers (last 4 weeks) but will point/gesture. Does talk to his nursery pals.

Completely mute when strangers try to talk to him.

Stopped going to his swimming class.

I am worried about him going to school 5 days a week next year if he can't cope with 2 days a week at nursery

Any thoughts Mums?

Last week he had an accident and just sat in a pee puddle. Didn't say anything to the teachers when they approached him.

Is it anxiety or is it neurodiversity?
Perhaps both?

Why do you think the GP would not take these concerns seriously? Collectively they sound valid to me.

What do the nursery say?

We already had an appointment with a paediatrician when he was 2.5.
She didn't have any concerns.

I have recently contacted our HV and left a voicemail (twice). She didn't get back to me.
I suspect they just think I am an anxious Mum.

The nursery commented on his "stimming"/motor stereotypy but they weren't concerned about it.
They mentioned to my partner he stopped speaking to them 4 weeks ago.
They mentioned one time that he doesn't take part in group activities but this has improved.
I had a meeting with nursery teachers few months ago and they advised he will be ready to go to school and didn't seem to be overly concerned. I mentioned neurodiversity but they didn't seem to be responsive to that as he is still so "young".

I feel like I am stuck.

I think you should try with the GP again. Behaviour that’s not concerning at 2.5 is not necessarily not concerning two years later.

I.e. because he hasn’t grown out of said behaviours when you would have expected him to.

The nursery advised my partner today that my son still doesn't talk to them.
He went to the toilet and stayed there for a long time. They checked on him and he was just there waiting for someone to collect him.
Also today - another boy was rough with him and my son didn't communicate he didn't like his behaviour (something that he would have done weeks ago).

My partner said we would contact the Heth Visitor and they said it might be a good idea.

I hope the HV will get back to us this time, its no longer just me noticing something is not right.

I'm not sure whether this is the same in all areas, but where I am, the nursery can refer on to eg SLT, Occupational Therapy. So if they share your concerns that perhaps something isn't right, they might be able to press forwards even if the GP or HV isn't responsive.

For what it's worth, I think you're right to ask for further advice and assessment.