PLEASE HELP...Does my baby have autism?

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If it turns out that your son is autistic, it's best to accept him and love him. He needs to grow up, feeling that he is loved by his family. A free luxury that I wasn't so lucky to have.

Before I say anything I'll second what DW_a_mom said that you need to trust your intuition, noone knows your child better than you.

I definitely think he is too young and the signs you mentioned are not serious or concerning enough to go through with evaluation at this age. The advice I have given to a few parents whose kids exhibit concerning behavior is wait (especially if they are young) and document all of your concerns, leave it a few months and make an updated list, keep doing this until you think it's time to see a specialist. There are things that the kids grow past and things that end up trivial with time.

For us, I noticed things in my daughter by the time she was 1 but at that point it was not far enough past the "normal" age for these things (everything in the mouth, sensitivity to noises and other sensory things, some language things and social things, above average in language and art) for me to really do anything. It was at her 4 year well child check up that I brought up the sensory issues and her advanced abilities and the Dr thought we needed to look closer. Those Dr's ended up brushing it all off and it was about 6 months after that that I started looking for an evaluation myself, by that point it had been literally years that some of the behaviors had not improved or changes and it was getting dangerous (chewing live power cords for example)

What I had been doing while I decided whether it was the right thing to do to pursue evaluation, was keeping a list of concerns and positives and little quirks that weren't really concerns by may have been relevant. I kept updating it regularly (ever few months) and it was hugely helpeful during the evaluation process.

Hope that helps. Start making a list but from what you said I think wait it out and see how he develops. My son who is not on the spectrum didn't really have much language until he was a fair bit older than your son is, and then he had some really odd sounds he used to make when he did speak, my husband and I both noticed it but he is speaking really well now and his language has taken off in the last 6 months or so, no other concerns with him, he'll be 3 in June.

EDITED to apologize for my horrendous typos!

[quote="Dilemma"]The advice I have given to a few parents whose kids exhibit concerning behavior is wait (especially if they are young) and document all of your concerns, leave it a few months and make an updated list, keep doing this until you think it's time to see a specialist.
If you choose to take this route, remember that, depending on where you live, waiting lists to see the specialist you want to see can be anywhere from six to eighteen months (sometimes even more). Don't wait until you're ready to see a specialist to start looking for one and making an appointment. The appointment probably won't happen in the next week or month.

Also, if you are really concerned, even though he is very young now, do not let years pass while you "wait it out." Early intervention is often extremely helpful, and waiting can allow some opportunities to be missed. If he needs early intervention, it can be very helpful to you, as his mother, for them to start during the birth-three phase, when you would be involved so you can support them at home in the best way possible. Once the interventions become school-based, parents are not as involved, and it is harder to know how best to support the services being provided, unless you have an unusually communicative provider.

I agree with Jat. Even though your child may catch up, I would still listen to the Early Intervention people and be open minded to the help they want to give. I agree that it is not necessary to get a definite diagnosis until you feel it is necessary, but if your son needs help with some of his development, I would work on it as soon as possible. Like Jat said, sometimes it takes months to get into see a specialist. You can always set the appt., and then cancel it if you want too. I am so thankful that we got our son into special needs pre-k at 3 yrs old because he really needed it.

Hope all works out.

I just saw some links on the Carlie's Hero forum but since I'm a new user it won't let me post links but if you go to the Carlie's Hero website and go to Autism Library and check out Handy List of Resources you will find some home tests listed.

Bummer I can't link.

I have to say, I am really uncomfortable with the way this is phrased. I am guessing it is true to some degree in some cases, especially where there is a language delay, but I think in those cases there isn't much question that early intervention is needed.

I think if there is any ambiguity at all, parents of very young children shouldn't feel rushed into treatment/diagnosis. Parents starting out on this journey need most to know not to panic. Interventions do help...but in most cases, I don't think there's a "critical period," at least not a very early one (speech delays excepted.)



This, on the other hand, I do agree with to some extent. While my son is in school, we're spending lots and lots of time learning to be parents and have taken a lot of the interventions out of the school's hands in part for this reason: we want to learn how to parent our child! I am grateful for everything we have managed to learn in the last year. Participating and understanding treatment, I think, is critical.