Any other LO been referred by the ped for suspected autism?

Question

My LO was referred today at his 1 year check up to a developmental pedeatrician. I have suspected it since LO was around 5 months old and was wondering if anyone was else was in a similar situation and could share advice and support :) My son has a speech delay, and is excessively irritable, but is fine with eye contact, smiling etc

Answer

I had my mom read over these comments because she works with people on the spectrum (from 2 to adult) and she said wouldn’t characterize speech delay at this age a sign yet. She said its not until they are at least 3 and over that speech can be used to determine if they have autism or not, along with many other signs. She also said she has yet to meet a child under 8 that has autism and has a short temper etc. as it’s usually just a normal thing children who don’t understand emotions and actions completely go through. I hope that’s helpful to some of you. 
She also wants me to note that she is not a pediatrician but she is a behavioral therapist and special needs teacher who has found that some children are misdiagnosed too early so it’s good to get more than a few opinions if they are ever referred.

Answer

I’ve got a few relatives that have kids diagnoses on the spectrum. Specialists say they can’t give a true diagnosis until 2-4 years old.

Answer

Oh wow! I didn't think they could really diagnose it until they're older? Like 2? My son gets very fixated on something and will do it over and over again and get very upset if you take him away from what he's doing. He also flaps his hands sometimes.

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I wouldn't worry too much about speech delays etc at this age. A lot of symptoms are completely normal in children this young. Does your child mimic actions? Can they wave/clap/point?
Sometimes I worry my daughter has ADHD or something. She's never really been able to sit still for very long. Even feeding her is a huge issue. Usually she will pick at her food and then insist on climbing onto her tray, turning round in her chair etc. If we stop for even a minute when she's in the stroller, she's crying and trying to climb out, she can't even sit still to nurse, usually she ends up in weird acrobatic positions likes with her body over my shoulder or with her feet on my legs and her butt in the air and will wiggle and try to bounce. It's crazy, people say they've never seen a baby like that.

Answer

My son doesn’t focus on anything very well, gets bored or distracted easily, extremely fussy when he can’t do something.. I’m keeping my eye on it and hope it’s just stubbornness/his personality more than it is an issue.

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No, but I am concerned as well. My son has a significant speech delay (rarely babbles, and doesn’t say any words), and will fixate on one part of a toy, versus the entire toy, which I know is an indicator. It’s hard to know what is age appropriate, versus autism, versus other developmental disorders. I also plan on bringing it up at our 12 month appointment in hopes of getting some answers.

Any other LO been referred by the ped for suspected autism?

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