Possible ASD or just speech delay?

Hi everyone,

I'm going absolutely around in circles on google. :redface: I know I shouldn't do that to myself but I am. I have an appointment with my GP but I want some information/some idea of what I think is going on with DS and I'm just coming up blank!

DS is 2.5 in 3 weeks. He has a significant speech delay. He has said around 25-30 words in total but on an average day he will only voluntarily say baby, shoe, car & go and will repeat yes, cuggle (cuddle) buzz, mum and probably a few other words i can't think of right now. I'd say on any given day he'd say 10 different words (voluntarily and the ones we try to make him say). We've seen a speechie once and we're waiting for a referral to someone closer to us.

I'm not 100% sure it's just a speech delay, though. There are a few behaviours that I'm worried about. He has alphabet magnets on the fridge which he will line up. He always lines up his cars. He will repeat the word car over and over and over. He'll also repeat the word shoe. He likes to watch the same movies over and over.

An examples of behaviour that bothers me... A friend recently babysat. She put him in the car and his shoe fell off. The whole way home (10 minutes) he was holding his leg saying shoe shoe shoe. She kept telling him that she would put his shoe on when they got home and he started crying. When she got home she got him out the car and he completely lost it, fell on the floor crying because he didn't have his shoe on.

Another thing that happens quite often is DS will breakdown and bawl when we leave somewhere. Whenever we go to the beach, he'll have fun we spend quite a bit of time there. We'll warn DS we're going in 5 minutes, say ok it's time to go, involve him in packing up and when it's time to walk away he breaks down. I took him to the park last week, he wanted to go on the swing, so I pushed him on the swing for a good 20 minutes. I gave him plenty of warning that it was time to get off the swing and go play somewhere else as other kids wanted a turn and when I took him off he lost it so bad we had to leave. I tried to distract him by taking him onto a slide, some climbing things & the train but nothing!

I asked my friend (the one who babysat) what she thought and she did say that there was something there. His eye contact is ok with me & his dad for the most part, but he shuts his eyes to others a lot. He will play along side other kids but won't play exactly with them unless it's things like reading a book next to them, dancing next to them. I think he is only just starting to pick up pretend play.

Any thoughts? I don't know what to do!

My DD does many of those things, and i haven't really considered ASD. The shoe thing, breaking down when having to leave - DD is 2 yr 3 months and has done/does both of them. She doesn't have that many words but is having a spurt of coming up with words at the moment.

It's worth checking out if YOU are worried, but it doesn't sound too out there to me. And stop googling:lol:!

Do you have a MCHN that you like?

Hi Littlebear,

As someone who works with children with asd I agree with looking into things further if you are worried. Start with googling (yes I know that sounds bad but what I'm suggesting is research based ;) ) the M-CHAT. It is a questionnaire that can let you know if your toddler is at risk. Not a diagnostic tool but will let you know if you need to look further. Then if you feel there is cause for concern you need to see a paediatrician, psychologist or speech pathologist. Choose someone who specialises in the area. Autism SA may be able to recommend someone.

I agree with hoti thay it's worth checking if you're worried.

fwiw my ds just turned 3 and has been doing alot of those things for the past 10 to 12months. I trust my mchn so I had a big chat to her a month or so ago (poor dd it was actually her appt!) because even though I was 90% sure he was just being a 2/3 yr old I wanted to act sooner rather than later if needed. she said that being 'obsessed' with certain items of clothing, characters, movies, the order of doing things etc is very normal behaviour. I'm pretty sure she said that lining things up was also typical but she did say that they would look out for things like just spinning the one wheel of a car over and over. my ds isn't a huge talker to strangers and doesn't answer questions when other people (other than dp and I) ask. apparently this is also normal & that by 4 they are usually alot more confidant in that regard. she also said that by 4 they are more likely to want to change things around rather than everything having to be in a particular order. she also said that some kids are just more prone to having melt downs. her ds is 8 and still has them every so often (not what I wanted to hear!!!).

leaving places is often a nightmare for us. counting is hit and miss but has started to work better in the last couple of months. but going by the kids at playgroup, it's pretty normal for some kids.

anyway sorry for the essay but just wanted to let you know that you're not alone but I always think it's worth getting things checked if it gives you peace of mind our if your mummy instinct tells you something is wrong.




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Hi Littlebear,
I also work with young children. Some of the behaviors you describe can be considered normal for children of this age, however I applaud you for following your instincts and being persistent with getting support. In assessing a child, a pediatrician or other relevant health professional will hopefully look at your DS as a 'whole child' instead of behaviours in isolation and take many factors into account. It can be difficult to get a diagnosis even if ( and at the moment it's an if) there is a condition to diagnose.
You and your partner know your DS better than any professional. Remember that. You are doing the right thing in following through with your concerns and if you're not happy with what 1 medical professional says, a second opinion is always a option.
Hugs to you, let us know how things go.