Probably being a bit silly here, but DS (3) is worrying me, repetitive and obsessive behaviour

[OracleInaCoracle]

Have c&p'd from behaviour as someone thought I may get some help here.

ds has always been a bit of a late talker. he recognises words and numbers easily but his pronunciation isnt great. we even took him to a hearing specialist because he was ignoring what we were saying to him. anyway over the last 6m he has started to develop obsessive behaviour. he will repeat the same words and actions over and over, getting increasingly agitated.

eg, last night i mentioned casually to dh that i thought it was going to rain, ds repeated "is it raining mummy?" over and over for about 1/2 hour it then took me another hour to calm him down.

if he does something wrong he will tell me over and over again (after ive told him not to do whatever it is) what he has done

he gets very upset if his trains/cars etc arent where he left them, in the exact order.
is this "normal" behaviour? someone mentioned that he may be on the autistic spectrum, is there anything else i should look for, what do i do?

bump

It sounds autismy, but there could be other explanations. Not sure how old he is, but definitely worth writing down all your concerns and asking your HV or GP for a referral to a paediatrician.

I wouldn't know about normal behaviour, as J is very very unique (as well as autistic!) But it's always worth raising any concerns, and it does sound a little unusual. Good luck.

Is it only speech? Seem to remember that echolalia a common stage in young children. Worth going to see your GP/HV anyway I think

speech and/or hearing problems can cause behaviour that bears similarities to ASD type behaviour (social problems, controlling behaviour etc). I agree with givemesleep about looking for a referral now (it can take several months for an appointment to come through).

For general info and advice on behaviour/communication issues the NAS (National Autistic Society) website is pretty good. (www.nas.org.uk).

btw - are you still concerned about his speech? if so would look for speech therapy referral too. if his expressive speech (what he is saying) seems behind for his age, it's possible that his understanding of language might also be behind, so it's worth using gestures/photos/pictures etc to back up things you are explaining in words.

I can't really help but I know my ds at about this age spent ages lining things up in rows and then rearranging them in different rows. He would also obsessively watch a particular video over and over and get upset if it wasn't in exactly the place in the film where he'd left it. I would suspect that some if not all your ds's behaviour is within the wide range of what is normal. However I can understand your anxiety and think you probably need the reassurance of someone with much more experience in these matters than me. I hope everything turns out fine for you and your ds.
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thank you very much. his hearing is fine, and his fine motor skills are very good. he is just turned 3.