Autism - what signs did you see in your children?

Tigsteroonie

OP, when you say he flaps his hands .... Does he do so for over 10 minutes, to the exclusion of any other activity?

To be honest, if you have to look and watch for these activities and responses (or lack thereof), then he's probably not Autistic, he's probably just shy. I know that ASD is a spectrum disorder but at his age, you should only worry if the behaviours & tendencies are obvious.

sassyblue

Hi OP, all that behaviour seems fine to me, my son did alot of those things and he was just an obstinate toddler.

I'm not sure if l'm going to be overly helpful.... our nephew has mild autism and other problems and l could tell when he was younger than your son that he was autistic to some degree. He came along on hubbys side of the family after 4 nephews on the my side to compare him to.

He was repetitive, asking the same question over and over - much beyond what my other nephews were ever like. He did make eye contact and was a lovely little soul, but was obsessive about his toys being with him and never shared them, he was obsessive over routine too but he didn't go into meltdowns he would just go over and over the problem as he saw it - kept asking questions as to why they were doing things differently. He wanted to learn everything about a certain animal and would retain that information - he would tell you about it over and over - but was very slow to learn other things like the alphabet or counting. There was no talking to him or learning him anything if he was in his 'zone' he just blanked you. He was also violent but took a very long time to understand it was unacceptable - again this was much beyond what my other nephews were like.. The thing that always stuck out for me was that he spoke in a drone voice if that makes sense.

kjmtidea

sulkisu wrote: »

DS1 is 27 months old and I am worried tht he might be autistic. He has speech delay, but his vocabulary has grown significantly over the past few months. At 24 months he said about 25 words, he now has 99 (yay), he is not really putting words together although he did say 'telly turn on' this morning. He has been assessed as being delayed in expressive and receptive language.
He is due to start speech therapy soon. The therapist, my G.P and HV have all said tht they don't think that he is autistic, but I keep seeing little signs (perhaps I am just looking for them).

He has started to line toys up, although not excessively. He has five vehicles which he has just lined up bumper to bumper and then moved them side by side. He then dumped them in a pile in the settee. However, I also noticed today that he was looking very intently at the wheels of his car as he drove it along - only for a half a minute or so, but it started me off again .

He loves cuddles and hugs, he makes eye contact, and smiles, waves and always has done but only really started pointing at things a few months ago. He would show me things either by bringing them to me or taking me to them.
He eats a very varied diet (different textures, colours, tastes etc) and is not set in a routine.
He is fine with other people, playing, laughing and interacting but with other children it depends. A few months ago he saw another little boy at the doctors and ran up to him, and they just chased each other around for a while. At stay and play he will often stay close to me (although not always) but watches other children and will generally play next to them without necessarily acknowledging/initiating contact with them. However on the bus last week, a little girl in the buggy next to him tried to initiate contact and he just ignored her.

Even as I type this I realise that I probably sound like a neurotic mother worrying about nothing. Everything that I read about signs of autism in toddlers refers to very severe symptoms. I have asked for DS1 to be assessed for autism, if only to put my mind at rest but in the meantime, my question for those of you with autistic children is, when they were this age 24 - 30 months, what signs did you see that told you that your child was different?

Edited to add - he also walks on his toes sometimes and flaps his hands. Again, not excessively but he does it all the same.

If he had autism then he would have lined them up and left them there, then gone mental if anyone breathed near them, let alone touched them.

We missed all the signs, we just put it down to him being him, he was always like it so everyone expected it - even playschool. It wasn't until he went to school that his teacher picked up on loads of things, spoke to us and it was a bit of a 'oooohhhh that's why he does that' moment. He got referred to a million different people and it went from there, we are still going through the process because he is being 'tested' for other things too.

I wouldn't worry about the talking, all of my children were late talkers and now they don't stop - well apart from the one with selective mutism.

pigpen

Children don't play WITH other children until they are about 3.. they play alongside them but not together.

Looking intently at moving parts is just learning about how they work and the patterns on the wheels..

Lining them up in various orders is perfectly normal.. looking at colours, comparing shapes and sizes.

Not talking is normal for some children for a long time.. Boys are often later to talk than girls. Several of mine didn't talk at all until they were over 3. DD4 used to say a word once and not use it again then she decided about 3 weeks before her 3rd birthday she could talk so she did. my 20 month old says about 10 words, she started saying daddy yesterday!!.. bizarrely she says 'shaun the sheep' kind of.. 'see you soon' and 'controller' (she means her leapfrog explorer).. no one else would understand what she is saying just us.. she has maybe 3 or 4 words which other people understand.. mama, daddy, mine .. the rest of the time she makes nasally type snorting noises and clicks..

My oldest at 2 would name the make and model of cars as we walked down the street. often we would have to check if he was right.. he always was.

My 2 boys with ASD didn't play with toys at all. They didn't even try to talk. They wore dressing up clothes for long enough (12/13ish). Everything was hard work with them.

I'd say your son is perfectly normal and you are expecting him to behave more grown up than he is. They grow up fast enough enjoy him as he is!

sulkisu

Thanks for your replies everyone. TBH I wasn't concerned intially, but then made the mistake of Googling speech delays and suddenly everything that I read seemed to support an ASD diagnosis. I suspect the problem is me - my sons were all a happy (but late - mid forties) surprise, I guess I am still expecting something to be wrong. Older mothers are apparently statistically more likely to have autistic children, so I am feeling selfish and guilty as well . I am also a bit of a control freak, in that if there is a problem I want to ensure that he gets the best help and support available as soon as possible, which probably isn't helping.

Tigsterooni - he flaps his hands every so often, usually for a less than a minute at a time and normally when he is very happy and/or excited.
Pigpen - it's not so much tht I want him to act older than his age. I love the way that he is and the way he behaves, it's just the flipping internet has scared the heck out of me. He didn't point (red flag for autism), he has a speech delay (red flag for autism), he walks on his toes (red flag....) aargh.

But it is helpful to hear your stories, especially from those of you whose children have exhibited the same 'signs' but are not autistic. I will try to stop worrying (easier said than done) and just enjoy my boys.

pigpen

Google is the worst place to look for medical stuff.. it should be banned.

My 20 month old flaps... and pulls her hair.. my boys made similar noises to her too. The only time she points is when she has a bogey on her finger she is giving me! few of mine have pointed really.

Talking has to be encouraged.. ask him questions then discuss the answers giving him opportunities to speak with you. Give him choices.. red juice or orange juice? Apple or banana? etc.. tbh 99 words at 2 isn't a speech delay .. I know very few 2 year olds with fluent coherent speech... most are nearer 3 before they can be properly understood by people they do not know well.

Walking on tiptoes... try ankle boots.. good solid lace up ones. They are the first thing suggested by orthopaedic surgeons (my 20 month old does that too) It is also not considered an issue unless they cannot put their feet flat.

My ASD ones have terrible sleep patterns and strange behaviours around fabric textures, physical contact etc.

barbiedoll

All toddlers have "strange" (to us) behaviour habits, my son was completely obsessive about the connecting rods on the wheels of his Thomas trains, he would get a new train and spend ages inspecting the rods and how the wheels turned. His speech worried me at first, he never "babbled", he used to make a noise like a duck! When he was a little older, he was totally obsessed with Emperor Zurg (from Toy Story) and his "pop pop" gun, he would get a new EZ figure and spend ages inspecting the gun, he was never happy because none of them would actually fire like in the movie!

Even though your toddler is not talking yet, he's not too young to learn his colours and shapes. I started teaching my son his colours after he made a big fuss when I painted my fingernails bright red. He couldn't say what was different but he noticed that they weren't "normal". So I said the word "red" over and over again, then pointed out other red things. We did a different colour every few days and by the end of two weeks, I could say (for instance) the word "yellow" and he would go round and point to everything yellow. This was long before he could actually say the words for the colours. We then did the same with shapes, using an old wooden puzzle that I inherited from my husband's children. Repetition is the key with young children, that's why they are quite happy to watch the same film/tv programme over and over again.

OP, your son sounds completely normal for his age. Speech delays are incredibly common, especially in boys. They run a SLT clinic where I work and it's rare to see a girl there, almost all of the referrals are boys. Stop worrying, there's nothing wrong or selfish about being an older mum. And stay away from Google, just because it's on the internet, doesn't mean that it's correct or true!

pinkshoes

He sounds like a healthy toddler with delayed speech that will no doubt catch up one day.

My cousin didn't speak properly until she was at school (no one could understand a word she said - vocab seemingly zero!). She's now studying a degree at Oxford Uni and is very normal!

JemmaM91

I think he sound like a normal toddler.

My friends little boy is 2 yrs 4 months and is only saying around 15 words, and those words aren't clear (only people who know him can understand what he wants).

He does understand what we are saying though.

As for lining up toys/focusing on wheels etc he does the same and so does my 14 month old so seems fairly normal to me.

Oh and the ignoring of other children DS goes to a playgroup and pretty much every child (aged 12-36m) does most of the time. I think they get too focused on what they are doing.

Stop worrying and looking for signs! I'm sure 'IF' he did have autism the doctors would diagnose it eventually so please stop worrying.

pigpen

Just wanted to add this link..

and highlight this bit..

. A typical 2-year-old has a vocabulary of about 50 words, although some have
many more.

This usually increases to around 100 words at 2.5 years old..