ASD Toddlers

[Rmd0609]

What is it specifically if any ?
All kids are different and yours will be able to do things theirs can’t as well it works both ways! Don’t be so hard on yourself. It sounds like you want what’s best for your child.

Well today for example i went to the zoo with friend and her daughter who’s 3 months older than my 2 year 4 month old.
Her daughter engaged the whole time looking and pointing saying which animals she loved and wanted to see next, said when she wanted a drink or a snack and generally walked round nicely keeping close to her mum.
My daughter is pretty much the opposite currently, but I know that she will grow and learn in her own time it’s just hard seeing other children do things so easily that your child struggles to.

 

[lookwhatthecatdraggedin1]

Does anyone ever look at friends toddlers who are ‘developing typically’ and get sad/jealous at what life could have been like for themselves if their child didn’t have ASD?
I feel so bad when I do this but I can’t stop and want to stop, I know it doesn’t change anything and I know ‘comparison is the thief of joy’ but it doesn’t stop me getting sad.
We’re not long into the journey of getting a diagnosis so hoping I’m just going through the motions and these feelings will be temporary, would help if I had other friends who had ASD children.

There’s times I feel the exact same, when I see my child at nursery wanting to be by himself and as he’s non verbal he can’t make conversation with other kids and I really wish he could just be involved like all the other kids

 

[strawberrysunshine_x]

Well today for example i went to the zoo with friend and her daughter who’s 3 months older than my 2 year 4 month old.
Her daughter engaged the whole time looking and pointing saying which animals she loved and wanted to see next, said when she wanted a drink or a snack and generally walked round nicely keeping close to her mum.
My daughter is pretty much the opposite currently, but I know that she will grow and learn in her own time it’s just hard seeing other children do things so easily that your child struggles to.

Do you go to any send sessions ? There are a few places near us that do them. You could meet another mum there as I saw you said you don’t have any friends with ASD children.

 

[Livelife01]

There’s times I feel the exact same, when I see my child at nursery wanting to be by himself and as he’s non verbal he can’t make conversation with other kids and I really wish he could just be involved like all the other kids

I feel like this, especially when other children are trying to play with my son and he doesn’t respond. x

 

[givemethegossx]

Advice please

my daughter is 19 months old and I think she’s displaying some autistic traits for example:

she can only say dada, mama, nana and yeah
She doesn’t really understand what we say
Eye rolling occasionally
Likes to spin things
Likes fiddling with her hands

But she gives us eye contact and loves playing and interacting with us she’s a very happy toddler but I’m just getting a bit scared that she might have autism.

My cousin is on the spectrum and I saw how much he struggled as a child but now he’s an adult he’s absolutely thriving. But I don’t know how bad autism could potentially be.

 

[Livelife01]

Advice please

my daughter is 19 months old and I think she’s displaying some autistic traits for example:

she can only say dada, mama, nana and yeah
She doesn’t really understand what we say
Eye rolling occasionally
Likes to spin things
Likes fiddling with her hands

But she gives us eye contact and loves playing and interacting with us she’s a very happy toddler but I’m just getting a bit scared that she might have autism.

My cousin is on the spectrum and I saw how much he struggled as a child but now he’s an adult he’s absolutely thriving. But I don’t know how bad autism could potentially be.

Autism displays differently in girls so if you have any concerns then I would contact your health visitor. They may say watch and wait as it still is quite young to refer. Eye contact is just one trait and lots of autistic children have eye contact and can interact.

What I’ve learned in the last 6 months is that no two autistic people are the same and there’s absolutely nothing to be scared of, but I understand as I was in the same place as you in November.

Does she respond to her name? X

 

[Meg78]

Anyone here dealing with PDA? Or have any experience with it? For the most part we have a happy child, but bedtimes are excruciating! Screaming, crying, violence and aggression for hours, alongside the usual delay tactics to drag it all out, life with a toddler is exhausting as it is but doing this every single night is shortening my life!

Any tips or strategies for having a smoother bedtime routine?

 

[Emsie]

Does anyone have any experience with hyperlexia? It lies on the autism spectrum but you can be hyperlexic without being autistic.
It's the ability to read without being taught.
My 3 year old can read. And seems to have followed an hyperlexic route to learning. We've done all the letters, numbers up to 1,000, the solar system, shapes and are now firmly entrenched in flags.
He's definitely hyperlexic I would say, and was showing some autistic "traits" that have fallen away as he's got older, but he doesn't really interact with other children, still plays alongside etc.
Just wondering if there are any other hyperlexic mamas out there

 

[QueenThea]

Has anyone had a new baby and their ASD toddler has taken no notice of them, like the baby doesn’t exist? I thought it might be because it’s all new to them but baby is 3 months old now and still no notice. I know it’s not the end of the world on the grand scheme of things but it makes me said I don’t have any pictures of them close together.

sorry I’ve only just discovered this thread but this comment really stood out to me.
when my daughter was born my son literally acted like she didn’t exist. All our first photos of the two of them are him and then us putting her car seat in at the last minute. But now they’re 7 and 4 and absolutely thick as thieves and absolute best friends. But it maybe took till
She was a year old for proper meaningful interactions. So I suppose my comment is just to say as much as things feel overwhelming and heavy at times nothing is permanent and their relationship will evolve.

I always thought she brought him on and helped him but he does the same for her. We’re always told how much she includes kids who maybe otherwise wouldn’t be and she isn’t in the slightest bit bothered by any perceived ‘differences’. She’s got a friend with selective mutism and says it doesn’t matter that she doesn’t talk because she’s fun -which makes my heart burst but Im also sure my daughter talks enough for 10 people so she probably doesn’t notice

 

[Meg78]

Does anyone have any experience with hyperlexia? It lies on the autism spectrum but you can be hyperlexic without being autistic.
It's the ability to read without being taught.
My 3 year old can read. And seems to have followed an hyperlexic route to learning. We've done all the letters, numbers up to 1,000, the solar system, shapes and are now firmly entrenched in flags.
He's definitely hyperlexic I would say, and was showing some autistic "traits" that have fallen away as he's got older, but he doesn't really interact with other children, still plays alongside etc.
Just wondering if there are any other hyperlexic mamas out there

Yes my toddler is hyperlexic, numbers and letters she always excelled, started nursery just after her second birthday and was reading over her teachers shoulders as they typed updates on the tablet, utterly freaked them out! She can identify letters (upper and lower case) and numbers out of sequence, subitise 1-10 etc but we did notice that with words she doesn’t understand phonics and blends, she’s using a photographic memory to memorise the patterns.

She’s ASD and ADHD, PDA subtype specifically, also a Gestalt language processor.

As an aside, if you have even a suspicion that your child may be on the spectrum please consider pursuing assessment and also applying for or asking the nursery to apply for an EHCP, both are incredibly hard to get ahold of for children who present in a more neurotypical manner, especially once they master masking, and the older they are the more dismissed they become. It’s an absolute travesty to see how many children are being left behind and needs ignored as they go through the education system and getting ahold of diagnosis and care plan prior to starting school has much higher success rates.

 

[Livelife01]

Yes my toddler is hyperlexic, numbers and letters she always excelled, started nursery just after her second birthday and was reading over her teachers shoulders as they typed updates on the tablet, utterly freaked them out! She can identify letters (upper and lower case) and numbers out of sequence, subitise 1-10 etc but we did notice that with words she doesn’t understand phonics and blends, she’s using a photographic memory to memorise the patterns.

She’s ASD and ADHD, PDA subtype specifically, also a Gestalt language processor.

As an aside, if you have even a suspicion that your child may be on the spectrum please consider pursuing assessment and also applying for or asking the nursery to apply for an EHCP, both are incredibly hard to get ahold of for children who present in a more neurotypical manner, especially once they master masking, and the older they are the more dismissed they become. It’s an absolute travesty to see how many children are being left behind and needs ignored as they go through the education system and getting ahold of diagnosis and care plan prior to starting school has much higher success rates.

My son is also is hyperlexic I believe. He knows his numbers and letters, he’s 2 but classed as non verbal. He is also a GLP, will sing along with miss Rachel all the time!
My son has been getting support from nursery and now on the ASD pathway.
---

sorry I’ve only just discovered this thread but this comment really stood out to me.
when my daughter was born my son literally acted like she didn’t exist. All our first photos of the two of them are him and then us putting her car seat in at the last minute. But now they’re 7 and 4 and absolutely thick as thieves and absolute best friends. But it maybe took till
She was a year old for proper meaningful interactions. So I suppose my comment is just to say as much as things feel overwhelming and heavy at times nothing is permanent and their relationship will evolve.

I always thought she brought him on and helped him but he does the same for her. We’re always told how much she includes kids who maybe otherwise wouldn’t be and she isn’t in the slightest bit bothered by any perceived ‘differences’. She’s got a friend with selective mutism and says it doesn’t matter that she doesn’t talk because she’s fun -which makes my heart burst but Im also sure my daughter talks enough for 10 people so she probably doesn’t notice

This is great. Thank you

 

[maytoseptember]

Does anyone have any experience with hyperlexia? It lies on the autism spectrum but you can be hyperlexic without being autistic.
It's the ability to read without being taught.
My 3 year old can read. And seems to have followed an hyperlexic route to learning. We've done all the letters, numbers up to 1,000, the solar system, shapes and are now firmly entrenched in flags.
He's definitely hyperlexic I would say, and was showing some autistic "traits" that have fallen away as he's got older, but he doesn't really interact with other children, still plays alongside etc.
Just wondering if there are any other hyperlexic mamas out there

You’ve described a classic hyperlexic profile there. I don’t know why so many hyperlexic kids go for space and flags as special interests but they do!

My son is hyperlexic too. He started reading at 3 but I’ll never know when he really started reading because he was speech delayed. It was only when he could talk that I understood he could read.

I also clung to the possibility of “hyperlexia type 3” (early reading child with some autistic traits but not autistic) but I soon realised that my son was undeniably autistic and I had been - understandably - clinging to the hope that he wasn’t. I don’t mind admitting that, I think all parents have to go on a journey of acceptance.

That’s a long winded way of saying don’t write off autism just because you don’t see any huge glaring traits. My son can give eye contact when he forced himself to, and never lined up toys, didn’t flap his arms etc. He’s still autistic.

 

[Livelife01]

Does anyone have any experience with hyperlexia? It lies on the autism spectrum but you can be hyperlexic without being autistic.
It's the ability to read without being taught.
My 3 year old can read. And seems to have followed an hyperlexic route to learning. We've done all the letters, numbers up to 1,000, the solar system, shapes and are now firmly entrenched in flags.
He's definitely hyperlexic I would say, and was showing some autistic "traits" that have fallen away as he's got older, but he doesn't really interact with other children, still plays alongside etc.
Just wondering if there are any other hyperlexic mamas out there

You’ve described a classic hyperlexic profile there. I don’t know why so many hyperlexic kids go for space and flags as special interests but they do!

My son is hyperlexic too. He started reading at 3 but I’ll never know when he really started reading because he was speech delayed. It was only when he could talk that I understood he could read.

I also clung to the possibility of “hyperlexia type 3” (early reading child with some autistic traits but not autistic) but I soon realised that my son was undeniably autistic and I had been - understandably - clinging to the hope that he wasn’t. I don’t mind admitting that, I think all parents have to go on a journey of acceptance.

That’s a long winded way of saying don’t write off autism just because you don’t see any huge glaring traits. My son can give eye contact when he forced himself to, and never lined up toys, didn’t flap his arms etc. He’s still autistic.

This is my son to a T. I had no idea he was or could be autistic until his nursery flagged up he was very ‘distracted’ I was moaning to my sister saying how rude of them and she said she thought he was maybe autistic and to get him checked. I was so annoyed that day, but looking back it was the best thing she ever did.
My son didn’t respond to his name, I didn’t even know that was one of the first signs. Think it was because he was my 1st. Anyway, he was referred last month and now on the pathway. He still can’t communicate, but he loves singing.
How old was your son when he started speaking? My boy is so incredibly clever but I long for the day he calls me mummy and means it!
X

 

[Meg78]

I find it fascinating to hear everyone’s journeys with this, especially given how often it turns out to be genetic and within the family. My husband went from pure denial and anger to receiving his own diagnosis of ADHD after realising traits our daughter had were also traits he had, and then he started to see things in other family members and we now have both grandparents and a great uncle on wait lists for assessments too!

 

[Emsie]

Sorry I should have said that we are pursuing an autism diagnosis. Our referral has been prepared by nursery and sent off already.
I'm not clinging to any type of hyperlexia, I'm not even sure if I believe in the types tbh but I do know it lies on the autism spectrum and our main sign of autism is hyperlexia if that makes sense 🩵
He started talking at around 15 months and baby babbled before that and he's pretty much caught up now I think.
Can I ask what other interests your little hyperlexics have had? We are loving flags at the minute.
It's funny because he can read but he doesn't seem to enjoy reading. It's just something he can do. He does love being read to though 🩵

 

[maytoseptember]

@Livelife01 My boy had a language explosion around the age of 3.5-4

He started talking at around 15 months and baby babbled before that and he's pretty much caught up now I think.
Can I ask what other interests your little hyperlexics have had? We are loving flags at the minute.
It's funny because he can read but he doesn't seem to enjoy reading. It's just something he can do. He does love being read to though 🩵

That’s very relatable! I remember thinking that hyperlexia was his main autistic trait too.

And he still can’t really be arsed to read and he’s just turned 8

 

[Livelife01]

I find it fascinating to hear everyone’s journeys with this, especially given how often it turns out to be genetic and within the family. My husband went from pure denial and anger to receiving his own diagnosis of ADHD after realising traits our daughter had were also traits he had, and then he started to see things in other family members and we now have both grandparents and a great uncle on wait lists for assessments too!

I know, I actually had speech delay. I didn’t speak til I was 4. I see a lot of traits in myself now my sons on the pathway.
---

@Livelife01 My boy had a language explosion around the age of 3.5-4




That’s very relatable! I remember thinking that hyperlexia was his main autistic trait too.

And he still can’t really be arsed to read and he’s just turned 8

Aw thank you, hopefully my boy will do the same too!

 

[lookwhatthecatdraggedin1]

My little boy is 3.5 and non verbal but put any number, colour, shape infront of him he can match them, he’s still behind in development but I’m hoping the speech comes on soon

 

[Emsie]

@Livelife01 My boy had a language explosion around the age of 3.5-4




That’s very relatable! I remember thinking that hyperlexia was his main autistic trait too.

And he still can’t really be arsed to read and he’s just turned 8

Reading?! Completed it mate
What else is your little one into? I've heard logos are a big favourite as well but we haven't got there yet! Shapes was exhausting, I'm sick to death of shapes! I was so happy to move to the solar system

 

[maytoseptember]

Reading?! Completed it mate
What else is your little one into? I've heard logos are a big favourite as well but we haven't got there yet! Shapes was exhausting, I'm sick to death of shapes! I was so happy to move to the solar system

He is only ever into gaming. Mario usually, but he goes through intense obsessions with other games, then switched to something else in the blink of an eye.

He was into space for quite a while, so much so he complained that all of his space books had all the same facts… for obvious reasons He’s never been into flags or logos. Some get obsessed with maps or foreign alphabets… not him though.