ASD Toddlers

[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!

 

[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.

 

[strawberrysunshine_x]

Hi lovely. We are just going through this with my son. How old is yours? Mine is 2.5yrs. We flagged some issues at the 2 year health visitor check (last month) and they said as he attended nursery they should do a referral for speech and language if needed. (It’s policy apparently) She wanted us to wait a couple of months for the ASD referral just incase he caught up. So I spoke to nursery about my concerns and they did a referral to something called SSS (portage) and now we’re just waiting to hear.
The health visitor can do a referral if under 5 and also the GP if you’re concerned xx

Hiii thanks for your reply. Mine is 3. 4 in April. I’ve had a nightmare with salt. Nursery tried to get him into portage but they sent me a letter saying the waitlist was that long by the time he’d be accepted he’d be 3. I mentioned to HV on the phone and she said it sounds like just shyness and I will see him mature more it gets to September him going to school!? Honestly what
weve had three sessions at speech therapy. I never got a report back and then they discharged us! I rang up to complain. They said it was out oftheir hands and we had to go back on the wait list

 

[givemethegossx]

took my 2 year old (she turned 2 on friday) to the doctors yesterday for help diagnosing her with autism or to at least get some help with communication/speech and the doctor just completely fobbed us off and said that she was too young to even starting thinking about autism and that i should just wait to see how she gets on. she made no effort to even look at my daughter. now i have no idea what to do

 

[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

 

[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?

 

[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

 

[strawberrysunshine_x]

My HV, local children’s centre and nursery deputy manager all made my sons referrals to a paediatrician, we got referred back in July and he had his appointment back last month and officially got put on the ASD pathway and we are awaiting his referrals. I had to push and push for help, I had all professionals harassed because I knew my child needed the help. You can also request a new HV, I did because she tried to tell me my child’s traits didn’t matter just because he liked all food and not just beige food my gp couldn’t put any referrals in until paediatrician had sent over the letters from our meeting but my best advice is don’t give up, let them know your fighting for your child and bring it up as much as you can whether that’s requesting meeting with nursery or HV’s constantly, we see our HV every 3 months and she is amazing since we asked for a swap.

Thankyou for your message. In six weeks we found out the decision for EHCP. It’s not good just everyone has to fight for their child. It’s their future and needs were fighting for. I’m on leave for the next 12 days after tomorrow so I’ll be making some calls

 

[LittleMy]

I never once said I ‘blamed’ lockdown, I just thought it could be a factor mainly with the lack of mixing with other kiddies. I immediately deleted my mumsnet account as I can’t be arsed for Judgey Julies like that it was the sly shaming disguised as help which p*ssed me off the most!

He’s only just turned 3 as well so it’s not like he’s nearing 4 or anything and school age.

I’ve noticed they’re good at that. Simply giving birth apparently qualifies you in everything and anything to do with them over on that site. Bunch of roasters.

He has plenty of time to develop and I’m sure he will thrive at nursery, especially with good parents supporting him.

 

[Livelife01]

Thankyou for your message. In six weeks we found out the decision for EHCP. It’s not good just everyone has to fight for their child. It’s their future and needs were fighting for. I’m on leave for the next 12 days after tomorrow so I’ll be making some calls

Hiya, just wondering how you are getting on? Did you manage to get the Gp to make a referral? X

 

[LittleMy]

It’s so hard isn’t it? Believe me, I have been where you are now and it all seems scary, but the staff will know what to do. They will likely be trained on how to care for children with additional support needs. I can only speak from my own experience with my sons but nursery can be great for helping bring children on in their development. It can also help support any assessment your child undergoes as they often like to know how your child is in that type of setting, whether he interacts with his peers, and identifying what type of supports are needed to aid his development. He may surprise you and take to it very well.

 

[LittleMy]

anyone had an positive stories for a non verbal toddler? my little girl is 2 in a few weeks and for a child who can't talk she doesn't shut up but it's like gibberish no real meaning at all, she can say mama and dada but I'm not sure if she knows what is means! makes me sad seeing toddlers her age talking when she can't

I think the fact that she is trying to talk/making sounds is a very positive thing. Two is still very young. My son was the same at that age, lots of babbling but no discernible words/language and with time, and support from a good speech and language therapist, he came on leaps and bounds. He’ll be 8 this month and is very chatty now (unless he’s engrossed in a video game ). I’m sure your wee girl will be chatting your ear off soon enough.

 

[Rmd0609]

My oldest daughter who is very autistic felt jealous when her younger sister was born - 2 years between them. If I was feeding the baby, she would say ‘off’ and sometimes hit her it was the only time she spoke tbh!

Oh really exactly same age gap as mine, can I please ask what they’re like together now?

 

[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.

 

[strawberrysunshine_x]

So I’m just wondering when a child gets diagnosed with Autism? Is there a certain age ?
my bf has just told me that the nursery teacher was asking if our little boy gets upset in stationary traffic and he thinks she is meaning he’s autistic I’m not sure where he’s gotten that thought from her question. ;
but I have thought he could be as he doesn’t like new places / envrionments.
Doesn’t like things out of his routine ( for example they have stay and play sessions once a term at pre school and we haven’t had one for ages so we went today and he was very upset crying on the floor just wanting to go home - we did end up leaving ) .
Doesn’t like adults being near him / touching him / talking to him
Speech delay
Nursery have said when he gets upset he’ll lie on the floor with (toy) bricks on his chest
We’re on going with the EHCP. It’s all been sent off just awaiting their decision. I’m just wondering is there anyone I contact or do I just wait ? When I asked nursery if they thought he was she just said we can’t diagnose.
sorry for the long post. Thanks in advance.

 

[Livelife01]

Hi everyone!
Just wondering how everyone is getting on? My son has just turned 3 and slowly improving day by day. He’s still classed as non verbal, says lots of singular words and sings all the songs from miss Rachel but no real communication.
Going to try and get an EHCP sorted for when he starts school next year x

 

[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

 

[givemethegossx]

The doctors are never interested! It was my health visitor that mainly gave me the support, is little one in nursery? Nursery were also a big help and got the ball rolling along with HV. The doctors are shocking when it comes to stuff like this and people wonder why us mums are so frustrated Hope you and little one get the help!

thank you I'll do that! no she's not in nursery yet unfortunately! we're going to try get her in there for January when her free hours start. can't believe how useless the doctors are

 

[watermelon sugar]

No I know what you mean about school but it still worries me. It’s the transition I’m worried about. The new surroundings etc. mine is also sensitive and cries sometimes going to pre school even tho he’s been there since 2. He just likes being with me. I’m also sensitive tho and used to cry for my mum .
What is your nursery teacher trying to say there. Sometimes I find them a bit irritating in the way they go about things. Mine told me over email about him saying additional needs !!!

Yeah i can imagine the transition is worrying. my little one goes to a private nursery atm and when he’s 3 my boyfriend wants him to move to the school nursery across the road and the transition just for that is making me nervous cos my son is so comfortable around the private nursery staff!

have you tried speaking to your nursery about what you can do to help with the transition? They should be offering advice and help really. sometimes i feel like they should do more. and surely that email would have been more helpful as a face to face convo??? Honestly they are no help sometimes i feel and don’t give much reassurance to parents

 

[lookwhatthecatdraggedin1]

Ooh brilliant that’s great news. We have a meeting with portage soon to try and get the ball rolling. My boy is summer born so worried about him as it is x

Hoping it all goes well and is a quick process for you! The louder you are the more you’re heard that’s what I thought x