Would really appreciate any views please

[notmenormally]

I hope no-one minds if I post in this section. My 19 month old ds has not had any diagnosis of any kind but I have concerns about him so would really appreciate any views. I did post on the behaviour section and had some reassuring replies but I still have worries and wondered if I could tap into the experience of those here.

Specific concerns are:

He does not always respond immediately to his name, especially when engrossed in something, eg TV, bricks etc.

When he was younger he seemed obsessed with traffic lights, and would kind of hiss at them when we stopped at them. He doesn't do this any more though, but he still hisses at the washing machine. I wondered if it was imitating the noise? But it still seems odd.

He sometimes sort of walks like a crab but with his head on the floor, like he's doing a walking headstand iyswim. He seems to like the sensation.

I met some friends today in a cafe where there was a ceiling fan, which he seemed excited by (he kept pointing at it and saying something which I guess was his word for fan, anyway). Lots of other kids in there and I didn't notice anyone else doing this.

At toddler groups etc he initially seems a bit overwhelmed by them, though quickly enjoys himself.

I suppose I'm wondering about an ASD. Do these things sound familiar? Or am I sounding neurotic?

Sorry again if this seems trivial or crass to any of you, but I am so worried about this and can't talk to anyone. When he was a year old and wasn't pointing I voiced concerns to family and felt laughed at - but my worries are real.

Thanks for reading this, sorry it's so long.

Hi
I'm a salt.
It might be worth asking your HV for some advice and/or support.
She is often the first port of call.

My son who has ASD did the crab walking thing until he was about 3 - pushing his head down into the floor...he also loves spinning things, fans, washing machines and he still does (he is 5) ...also he never really responded to verbalisations of his name (appeared deaf most of time)

BUT

this does not mean your son has ASD ask your GP what he/she thinks and if you can get a refereal to a paed

Try not to worry - so many kiddies have funny old quirks

Also my son NEVER pointed and still doesn't and this can also be an indication of ASD apparantly

hi there, my ds isn't diagnosed either (he's 3.3) but my ASD concerns started at around 19 months when his language development stalled.
Does your ds share attention with you? Does he point and look at you to share what he's interested in? Does he bring you things to look at? It might be worth looking at the CHAT test, available on the National Autistic Society website I think, which is designed to flag up concers about autism in toddlers.
If he scores highly and you are concerned, go to your GP and ask for a referral to a developmental paediatrician. Just to warn you, it's a long process and diagnoses are rarely given before the age of 2, and more usually 3, but at least they can monitor him.

Try not to panic, he's still very young, and many toddlers do odd things as part of normal development!

hi kettlechip - is your son still not dx?

My DS2 (now 7) who is asd also did the crab walk. He still ignores his name and other stuff but I think that's to do with processing.

I agree with moondog speak to your HV and take things forward.

It doesn't seem trival or crass by the way - your worrys are real, so speak to your HV.

Hope that reassures a bit.

Isn't this crab walk a strange thing - he seemed to want to push his head so hard into carpet..all to do with sensory processing i guess

Thanks for the replies. So it seem that these things are quite odd? Part of me can't tell if they're just toddler quirks as everything else about him seems like most others, but I just don't know. And if there is something, I'd rather know sooner rather than later. I'll get in touch with the GP.

asdmum, he doesn't seem deaf or in 'his own world' at all, just sometimes takes 2 or 3 times before he turns to his name being called.

It also depends how helpful your HV's are - ours were useless and tried to fob me off the whole time - be firm and strong about your concerns - don't let them fob you off if you are not happy about what they are saying

Does he have good eye contact with you? Its diff to remember what my DS was like then but he never really played with things - just watched repetitive things, washing machine, fans, spun himself and plastic plates - loved same Teletubbies video over and over. never pointed. limited diet - unwilling to try new things. often looked straight through me (still does) and has that glazed autie look in his eyes as if he is in a fog (occasionally it lifts).

sorry, x-posted with lots there.

Kettlechip, yes he does point, share attention and bring things to me. If anything, he is too reliant on my attention sometimes (eg bringing me books all the time to read), he's not great at playing on his own. I'll have a look at the CHAT test.

ironically my DS loves socialising and being amongst loads of people and being the centre of attention as long as he instigates it

Also when he was that age he did the 'autie scream' - the highest pitched scream ever - as he can verbalise a little now that seems to have subsided but ow that scream was ear piercing

Asdmum, his eye contact seems ok though tbh I've never really looked at it closely. I've certainly never noticed anything unusual about it. He does play with things, though doesn't push cars around much. He does do some role-play stuff, like feeding toys, brushing their teeth, talking on toy phones. He does point, though not till he was about 15 months.

My son has never fed toys or brushed teeth or any role playing stuff...but my son has low functioning autism and is not higher functioning so i don't know if that may help

Does he line things up? Apparantly thats quite common in higher functioning kiddies i think (although its not what i live with so am not entirely sure - just anecdotal stuff)

I found the CHAT test, and answered 'yes' to all the questions but couldn't find how to score it. But I'm assuming 'yes' answers are passes? The only query one was pouring a cup of tea - not sure he'd do that though he might pretend to drink out of the cup. Also not sure if I asked him to point at something whether he'd do it reliably - he definitely would if it was in a book but not sure about a RL object, though he'd certainly look at it and repeat the word.

He doesn't line things up.

Asdmum, thank you so much for taking the time to reply to all my questions, I really do appreciate it

Does he understand then if you say wheres the dog or cat in a book - cos my son only just getting hang of this now - could NEVER do this until 4 really

Hey no probs

not sure if this is the one you have checked but does this help here

gonna have to go nowchat soon

Yes he does understand things like dog, cat etc. Thanks, that was the link I found before. It just didn't seem to be explicit that 'yes' answers were passes, but I think that's the case. If that's so, he did 'pass' it. It's just the other stuff I thought was odd, but maybe it's just quirks??? I really don't know what to do tbh - will perhaps see the GP.