Hi was hoping I could get some advice please ! Really appreciated
I have a nearly 20 month old (corrected as born 3 weeks early ) who I have some concerns about. He did have glue ear but that has been treated and no further concerns about hearing loss.
- He started pointing at 18 months corrected (18.5/19 months chronological age) , first more with grabby hands and then more frequently with index finger. Now he often points to request and share interests and just points all day long. He still does whole hand point too but mostly index finger pointing and it is mostly coupled with eye contact. He also will point to things when you ask him “where is your shoes “ etc. my main concern is he pointed late
- He has speech delay , can say about 5 words and two animal noises and babbles a lot like dadada mamama nanana and vowel sounds like eeeee
He has back and forth babbling and mimics babbles so if I say mamama he will say mamaman back
He calls everyone dada even strangers but it’s a word he uses to communicate/converse
- He has a lot of interest in strangers. He used to go up to strangers (only men) and approach them and still does something but doesn’t ask to be held by them like he used to. He will look at strangers in a shop thoigh and smile at them and say “dada”
Or babble. He shows a lot of interest in other children and will go up to them and smile and watch what they are doing. Not sure if this is lack of stranger awareness is worrying ?
- He has started to hit us and other children at nursery - probably frustration of not being able to communicate ?
- My biggest concerns is he hand flaps sometimes , spins in circles sometimes and today I noticed he walk on tip toes sometimes. He also runs up and down or around the room especially when tired for up to 5 mins but looks at us at the same time or when stops. He sometimes splays his fingers and tenses when excited eg going up and down the slide and screeches
The positives are - he scores low on MCHAT 0-1. He has good and appropriate eye contact , joint attention , uses lots of gestures , points to body parts , had imaginative play eg feeding his dolls , feeding us from pretend cup , brushing teddys hair , talking on phone. He mimics well and plays will toys appropriately Althoigh does have a low attention span and loves cars but will just push them back and forth or get in a car and ride it back and forth
What are peoples thoughts on possible ASD ? Is the speech delay and “stimming “ enough to warrant a diagnosis even though he scores low on MCHAT? He has really improved with his social communication in the last two months as well as his understanding.
Thank you for reading !