Autism diagnosis before 2yrs

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Please be gentle with me as this is my first post and I apologise if I have posted it in the wrong section etc.

I am looking for advice re potential autism in my 19 month old. I have been told that doctors are reluctant to diagnose before 2yrs old in the UK however a lot of the research I have read suggests that the earlier the diagnosis the better and that toddlers can be diagnosed before 2. I was wondering if any of you could help me if you have had or were yourself diagnosed before 2yrs old.

We are currently on the waiting list to be assessed but this may take months before our initial appointment. My health visitor seems unconcerned as my daughter makes eye contact and smiles- it doesn't seem to concern her that my daughter has "lost" all but one of her words, doesn't respond to her name, doesn't wave (maybe 1 in 100 or more times she will), doesn't point, is reluctant to look at things we try and show her, doesn't mimic, is extremely quiet and has never been one to babble much until the last few weeks, very independent, doesn't seem to understand/process a lot of things that she possibly should be now. These are some of my main concerns. (but hey- she smiles and makes eye contact so why worry according to the HV!)

I just want to do my best for her and help her in any way that I can, this is why I'm so keen to know either way asap. The thought of being told to wait until she's older than 2 worries me as I don't want to "deprive" her of any help if that is what she needs.

Any opinions are welcomed and thank you massively in advance. I am hopeful that we will be told that she is just being "independant" or a very quiet child etc but in the back of my mind (and the front and sides lol!) I can't help but think there's more to it xxx

Is this your first child? The reason I ask is that it is easy to lose perspective when you don't have any experience or anything to compare to. Parents naturally worry a lot over their first child and but that's perfectly normal.

I would say that 19 months is still very young and you can expect many changes over the next few years. All children are different, and some progress more slowly or quickly than others in different ways but it all generally evens out in the end.

Is there a history of such things in your family? If not it's probably not ASD and I wouldn't worry until she was older. Kids develop differently. My wife does not have an ASD, but she didn't walk until she was two years old. I do, but I didn't have any developmental delays that were noticeably.

Hi guys, thank you both for your replies


She is my second child, I wouldn't be concerned if it were a delay in speech on its own- I know that kids can take their own time to develop skills etc and am pretty easy going about stuff like that generally. What worries me is that she has stopped using all of the words she had developed apart from one which she uses frequently- it's not usual for a toddler to just "lose" words. The not responding to her name etc also worries me and I think a combination of everything is turning my brain upside down! lol. I hope that ASD is not the cause, there is no family history of it that i'm aware of Thebrain, but I feel it's something I need to be aware of as she apparently shows a lot of the signs for her age. I bet you all think i'm a neurotic mother but I assure you I'm not lol xxx

As a mother I say don't wait! Don't wait for a day more! 2 years old means that if your daughter is autistic she can have the appropriate therapy to reach an independ life and achieve the things she wants in her life.
Education for autistic kids is improving a lot and it's better to start around two 1/2
PM me if you want
Forgive my english I'm an italian speaker

Oh yeah, don't take that the wrong way. If you're pretty sure I'd get her into a good daycare with other childern. The earlier you get her socializing the better off she'll be. The doctors probably won't be able to do anything for you until she is older, so they'll probably just tell you the same thing.

Thank you Claudia, this is how I feel too. If she is diagnosed as having asd (fingers crossed that she doesnt have it but I just don't know), earlier then it's better. The research I've read suggests that early diagnosis is really important. I'm so hopeful that I'm wrong but I owe it to her to determine one way or another xxx

TheBrain, thanks also for your reply There are no good daycare centres nearby to me . I socialise her with other kids at toddler groups and amongst the kids at my daughters school etc as much as I can. She likes to watch them play but doesn't join in- I attribute that to her age aswell though as I don't expect her to join in much yet. xxx

I have a fifteen month old daughter and I worry about her everyday. She isn't showing any of the typical signs of ASD, yet, but she is so advanced for her age that the program that she is in asked my wife if she had any goals for her becaused she has already surpassed all of the goals for her age group. We've already been told by a "Child Specialist" that was giving a speach at the center that she seems to be at least gifted, but being advanced can be a sign. I worry everday that she's going to start regressing. It's so hard. I'm so proud of her for being advanced and so scared. It takes a lot out of you.

It's so hard not to worry isn't it. Being a parent is tough! I'm sure i'm getting a few grey hairs already after only 7yrs on the job! lol xxx

My oldest is now six years old and only now (tomorrow in fact) is he going to be having any kind of assessment. I would not have even guessed there was anything wrong before about 4, though I suppose it must vary for individuals depending on severity. Even now it is only a strong suspicion based on his behaviour and guessing that both myself and my father have AS.

You've got to do what you think is best, though I'm not sure what kind of assistance there is for such young children.

Even if it's not autism, it's not normal for a child to regress so drastically- Did she have many words (you've said she's lost all but one)? Did she used to respond to her name, or is this typical of her? Parallel play is pretty normal for a child her age still (they prefer to play beside someone rather than with someone.)

The thing about doctors, is that they see a patient for 5 minutes and seem to think it's ok to make a really great assessment without actually listening to the patient a lot of the time, or so I've been dealing with for the last almost 27 years, they seem to forget you spend ALL your time with your kid and probably know them best. Make a list of everything you can think of that you've noticed that seems "off" or any regression of any kind, bring it in, and if you don't feel comfortable with this doctor, you have a right to a second opinion. I don't know if it's like this everywhere, but in Canada, if you ask for a second opinion, your doctor has to help you get one.

We had the same problems with my younger sister, we had so many concerns, and our family doctor kept brushing us off, it turns out there's quite a bit that my doctor brushed off with her that were major warning signs as well as me (but for things that weren't AS- Most of us overlooked that one) She's now in special education, but our doctor flat out refused to do anything until she was I think 4 even though we'd had concerns from around 1.5 years.

I have a friend who's youngest is a non verbal autistic, he's pretty severe as autism goes at the moment, but he smiles more than most NT kids I know. That is a ridiculous way to "decide" it's not autism. So is the whole making eye contact argument, some do make eye contact, it's just more rare.

Good luck to you and If you want someone who can relate to those frustrations, my PM box is open.

If you are in the states, call Early Intervention and they'll assess her for free. They don't diagnose, but they'll assess her skills, including language, and if she is behind they'll offer her free therapy and school and stuff. There is plenty available for children under 3!

Thanks for the replies

Twitch:- She had approx 10 words at 15 -16 months and now she has one ("ta"). She stopped babbling for a while but that has started again in the last few weeks which has made me smile big time . If I'm being perfectly honest I don't remember a time when she responded to her name although I'm sure as a baby she used to be more responsive. Certainly since walking (11 months) she doesn't respond as I have her on video and you can see that she is unresponsive to her name. We use her name a lot so it's not like I can excuse this as her not realising it's her we're calling if you know what I mean. I will definitely make a list of things. I started videoing her last week at different times to show that she doesn't respond and am thinking of starting a diary to chart what she does daily to show the doctors- does this seem like a good or bad idea?


Supertrouper:- Unfortunately I'm not in the US (I wish I was), we're in the UK. I'm thinking of seeking out private healthcare at the minute as the not knowing is driving me mad. I wish this was going to be an easy situation in which someone would see us soon and say yes or no to Autism as at the minute we're in Limbo! Unfortunately though it sounds like a long road ahead!

xxx

I would definitely seek out private services, yes. dont they have anything equivalent to early intervention over there? 2 yrs is not too young at all. In fact its the best age to catch it. Early intervention services here only go up to age 3 - yes, there are things you can do. You don't want to regret it later,as you say it is not usual to lose all your words like that. Good luck.

Thanks Kathysilverstein, I have read that the earlier the intervention the better. I feel that it definitely needs to be looked into as losing words and not responding etc are not typical behaviours for a toddler. So far we've been referred to speech and language therapy and based on their assessment I'm guessing we may or may not be referred to paediatrics? I'm not sure about early intervention services in the UK but I haven't come across any yet. I'm looking into a private clinic which focuses purely on ASD and am hoping to speak to the consultant psychologist who works on Fridays this week.


I'm unsure of other explanations of her behavious and regression as whenever I look them up I come across ASD. If anyone has any other potential theories I'd be really grateful for any opinions or advice.

Thank you all again xxx