ASD- if this child were yours, would you have them assessed?

[LaBoo]

Hi

I am wondering whether to get my ds assessed for asd. I am a Mumsnet member but wanted to deal with this at my own rate.

Child is 21 months this weekend.

Child has a sibling with asd.

Child has good eye contact although increasingly seems to stare through you if that meakes sense?

Points but not a triadic point.

Severe separation anxiety- couldn't go with anyone except parents until 18 months, still cries now even for grandparents and regular CM.

Very funny with food,will only eat fruit puress, breastmilk, drink fruit juices,eat pasta and fish fingers or crisps.

V routine loving

Hates big changes- screamed house down at sight of advent calendars this AM (prompting this)

Has single words which I know is not a delay,as a delay is no 2 word sentences at 24 months and he is not that age yet.

I know its no way clearcut, and had he not had the sibling I'dprobably not have worried, but notb sure if a check up is needed? We have never met our HV so I don't see her as asn option tbh

Does he readily share interest/attention with you? Does he have age appropriate play skills? What is triadic pointing?

I have a 4yo with ASD and also a 21 month old so am in a similar position to you I think.

My 21 month old is very clingy to me and cries with anyone except me, DH and MIL. He does cry when I leave him with even DH and MIL but is ok after a bit.
He also has single words, no sentences yet. He does have quite a few words though (much more than DS1 had at his age!)

I am not worried regarding ASD with him at all though as he is v v different to DS1 at the same age.
For example.... he will listen and pay attention if I ask him something and can follow simple instructions.
He is good at walking with me, holding hands and in the right direction etc when I explain it
He does pretend play - he 'flies' his plane and pretends to make and drink cups of tea etc
He loves colouring and drawing and craft type things.

How is your youngest in other areas such as those?
Personally based just on what you said I wouldnt worry yet myself. I'd wait and see a while. If there are other worries though then that maybe different.

This sounds like my situation too. Elder ds has AS, younger probably NT but still worries me, though less as he gets older. Do they do 2.5/3yr developmental check in your area? If so this might be time to ask. I talked to nursery nurse who came to do this about signs of ASD in ds2 and she said she would be fine to refer to early years assement if we are concerned but she didn't seem that worried. And we have asked nursery to encourage imagination/small world play which he seems to be doing a bit more now.

It's not uncommon for siblings of children with ASD to have ASD traits even though they are NT (its' called the 'broader autism phenotype' apparently). Also (confusingly) younger NT siblings copy the ASD behaviours they observe in older sibs.

Given the waiting lists and the family history I would probably start the ball rolling if at all possible.

Normally I would say to start with the usual 2yr development check but IMO they're not always so good at picking up less obvious SN. My ds1 (ASD) could only do a couple of things on the checklist but ds2 (ASD) would probably have passed.

With the single words I would be looking at what those words are and how they are used. Ds2, for example, had lots of single words but they were things like shapes, colours and numbers and not used for communication purposes. Very different to NT dd who started with things like hello, bye, mummy, biscuit etc and used those to communicate with people.

My hv has mentioned possible asd for my youngest children aged 2 & 3, and said she would make a referal if i wanted to. best thing is be upfront with them and ask their views.

Oh I feel for you, my eldest has probable ASD and I watched the youngest very closely. He is now well over 2 and seems NT, the key differences are his ability to share attention. He is far more demanding than the eldest ever was, and needs me to be around, and to interact with him constantly.

He had single words at 12 months, and sentences at 24 months. Like others have said, he gained language differently, verbs quickly followed nouns, and his language was so much more functional and appropriate.

I would have definitely referred him at 24 months if I'd had concerns, and would recommend you get your child checked just to be on the safe side. Would they have passed the CHAT (checklist for autism in toddlers) at 18 months? That might help you assess whether it's worth referring to a paediatrician sooner rather than later. At 21 months your child should definitely pass the CHAT test. (If you google, you should be able to access a copy to complete online)

My DS is now 9 and has still not got a diagnosis although he has a lot of the traites of ASD. We moved to Oz a couple of years ago and had specialists look at him there. They suggested a processing disorder either Auditory or sensory or both. 2 consultants i saw (one Australian, 1 American) told me the UK has a worldwide rep of misdiagnosing ASD and had i considered processing disorders. Now back in the UK it is impossible to get seen by someone who knows what they are talking about. I would get a referral but keep a really open mind and don't take the dx given if you don't think it is right. Research as much as possible. Information is power and question everything you don't agree with.