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Autism symptoms?

Hi my 8 month old has covered her ears to loud noises for as long as I can remember. I always thought it was just a cutey thing but when I googled it loads of stuff came up about autism.

My niece has this but she lives in a different country so I don't see her often enough to know the traits.

She is 10 anyway so would probably act differently to a baby.

I have no idea what i'm looking for & would appreciate some advice.

She had a hearing test in hospital & was fine but nothing done since.

Many thanks xxxx

Replies

  • Lots of children cover their ears to loud noises, it is true that children with autism do it as it is a sensory thing, 8 months old is too young for any professional to even consider thinking about autism, my son is 4 in April and is beign assessed for autism or aspergers, he does have sensory processing disorder too which often comes hand in hand with autism, there are many other characteristics of autism which wouldnt be seen in your child at her age, has she started to babble yet (ma ma da da etc) does she make eye contact, does she smile at you, is she interested in her toys? My son never made eye contact with me, even from a very young age, infact he actively avoided it, if I looked at him, for example when he was feeding, he would actively avoid my gaze and move his eyes.



    Obviously if you are worried I would speak to your health visitor or GP about it but I doubt that they would even consider autism at such a young age, as I said my son is almost 4, he has been under review of the paediatrician since he was 18 months old because of delayed development (which can also be a sign of autistic spectrum disorders), he ticks many of the boxes for an autistic spectrum disorder but they still wont diagnose him because of his age.



    My advice to you would be to mention it to your health visitor but then get on with enjoying your baby as she is now, even if they do decide in the future to start assessing her for an ASD it wont be for at least another year and that will only be if she show lots of the characteristics.
  • Thanks so much for your reply. Lily does engage & have eye contact & looks at us when we shout her name.

    She plays with her toys & appears to concentrate on things so I know these are things to look out for.

    With my niece she was diagnosed at 18 months & they were told early intervention is key so it's good they are assesing your son.

    She is 10 now & in main stream school & top of her class.

    I suppose I should stop reading into things so much & just enjoy her as you say.

    Thanks again x
  • It is hard to not worry, it is part of being a mum and you know your daughter better than anyone else so if you are worried then speak to your HV, it sounds like she is doing just fine though, your niece was diagnosed quite young, I think age of diagnosing depends on area, round here they dont generally diagnose till 7 which is an absolute nightmare as it means you dont get any support till then and the early years are the most important, I have learnt so much about autism since it was first mentioned by the paed that Isaac had autistic traits and I have made it my mission to work with him to help him it is difficult though, some days are so difficult and I just need help, he also has other problems too which dont help.
  • Hi my daughter is very near the end of being assessed with CAMHS for autism and she is almost 6. she has OCD which also gos hand in hand with it plus a number of other problems. she is very bright and not at all naughty but has sensory and communication problems and the health proffessionals we have seen so far have all said they think she has aspergers but we need to have 1 final assessment and then a debrief and if she isnt diagnosed it will be down to her age as she is so young so i basically wanted to second exactly what hayley said, by all means if you are worried talk to your HV but many children cover their ears to loud noises

    xx
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