Social and communication development

[Chocolate18]

Hi my DC is 11 months and I am really nervous about her development.

She is developing well on her physical side (gross and fine motor) but what I am concerned about is her social and emotional communication development.

The things that concern me:

• Limited babbling, hardly makes mamama dadada sounds but she has definitely done this in the past - often times there is pin drop silence in the house

• Responds to her name, but have noticed in the past two days she has stopped doing this and only responds on her terms

• She seems to be hyperactive over the past two days and won't sit still - is this normal?

• Likes playing on her own and exploring different things and toys and won't reallt engage unless it is on her terms

Things that comfort me:

• She is really smiley and has always been since she was a baby, she likes to interact with strangers and I've noticed she tries to get their attention by smiling often

• She can clap, play peakaboo and reacts to nursery rhymes (however not always consisten)

• She plays with toys 'correctly'

• She eats and sleeps well

• She has separation anxiety and cries when we drop her at nursery

• She crawls up to me and my husband and gives us hugs and kisses

We got her ears checked when she was 8 months old because I was really concerned on the lack of noise and she had glue ears in both ears with mild hearing loss. We've redone the test recently and it's now moderate hearing loss. I'm reallt worried and concerned as to what the results mean and what to expect going forward? Could this be the reason why she is behind on her social development or could there be a bigger issue like autism,? I'm so so so anxious and i feel sick.

Does anyone have any experiences or advice to share?

She sounds like an average 11 month old. Most babies only engage on their terms. And only turn to their names when they want too. Nothing you gave said above sounds like she has autism.

The moderate glue ear is probably why she isn’t babbling much, if she isn’t hearing different sounds she isn’t going to be making them and it can delay both her receptive and expressive language. This can clear up on its own or the doctor can put grommets in. And once she can hear she will catch up very quickly. What did the doctor say when you got her tested recently?

If you are concerned you should speak to your HV, but much of what you post is typical for a baby. Hearing loss can cause social and communication difficulties and delay speech. Is DD under a consultant?

Ive raised my concerns so many times with the health visitor but they are useless and makes me feel stupid to raise them...i had to fight to get a referral to check her ears and if I had not done it, we wouldn't know she has glue ear.

I feel horrible, DC is literally ignoring us all morning and I can't stop worrying. She's making no attempt to communicate with us and it feels like DC doesn't care if we are around or not (however to counteract that statement, she cried when I dropped her of at nursery yesterday so there is some level of recognition?)

I feel like I'm losing my mind and I'm really worried..

She's not yet under a consultant but we are seeing the audiologist in 2 weeks for a follow up - not sure what will happen in the appointment but the letter says that if she still has glue ear they will suggest hearing aids - why not grommets? Is it no longer offered as widely?

After the audiologist appointment. If you are still concerned and you don’t think the audiologist or HV are listening to you, speak to the GP.

Aids are usually used while they see whether the glue ear resolves and if it doesn’t while waiting for grommets. Each case is looked at individually.