Autism/Is it autism?

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Expert: Celtica - 4/10/2007


Question
I have a 15th month old that use to say mama and dada at 12 months old but really never looked at us when saying it. She doesn't point or  wave at all. She's pretty quiet most of the time only babbles a few times during the day. She doesn't spend even a couple of minutes on any toy.She either puts it in her mouth and runs off to the next thing. She has walked for 3 months on her feet and now has been walking sometimes with her tip toes,but not all the time. We go back in three months to the neo. doctor to see if she 's doing things on her checklist. She seems happy most of the time. She doesn't like to feel restrained her she'll punch her head or bang her head on the floor. Doctor said that she's very frustrated. She almost never looks if someone calls her. If hearing test comes back normal and she hasn't progressed much in three months(18months} when can I assume that it's autism. Can someone have autism and have some eye contact and be social with her family?She did have reflux her whole life but did not need and feeding tubes,not that severe. Can I assume she'll wake up one day and start pointing and saying mama and dada, and it was only the reflux that had delayed her. Or does pointing and making gestures would never be related to reflux.Sorry for so many questions. THANKS

Answer
Hi Keri,

I understand that you're worried, but I unfortunately can't help you. I'm not a health care professional, and even if I was, trying to give a diagnosis over the internet would be very unprofessional.
From what you write this doesn't necessarily sound like autism to me, but you can only be certain if a specialist has had a chance to observe you child's play and her interaction with you or others for some time. It's really not possible to tell from a few lines of text.
If if I were you I'd try to get referred to an autism specialist as soon as possible if you're worried. From your text I understand you already had her hearing tested. Maybe she is "just" hard of hearing (which may explain why she's not babbling much).
I don't know if reflux can be a cause for developmental delay, but my guess would be no.   
To answer you other questions, yes I've seen a child who was diagnosed as autistic being social with his family (at least with his mum - he interacted with her quite well) and he also had some eye contact (but didn't speak at all).

Good luck for your child and your family,
c.

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Celtica

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*DISCLAIMER*

Please note I am not a healthcare professional or a doctor.
I cannot provide a diagnosis or give any medical advice.
Therefore I cannot answer questions like "is my child autistic ?" other than by telling you to go and see a specialist
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Please be aware that if you are in the US it will usually take at least 24 hours until I can answer your question, as I'm in Europe and don't have access to my email during the day. I also cannot answer questions concerning the US educational or law system (other than by looking up things on google, but that's probably not the expertise you need), as I'm not in the US.
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Please also be aware that I'm a person with autism. My answers may sometimes be very blunt and direct and I may tell you things you won't like to hear. Diplomacy is certainly not among my talents. I'm never being rude on purpose, and I always try not to hurt or offend people, but it has happened before and may happen again. It's NEVER on purpose. I just want to help.
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What I *can* do for you is gather information on any aspect of autism and therapy of autism you're interested in and give you my personal oppinion about it (if you want to hear it) or, if it applies, tell you about my personal experience. I can answer all questions about what life is like for an autistic person.

I can also answer questions asked in German or French (but will have to answer in English to questions asked in French as my French is a bit rusty).

Ich beantworte gerne auch Fragen auf Deutsch.

Vous pouvez poser des questions en Francais, si cela ne vous dérange pas que je responds en anglais.

Experience


As I'm not doing well right now and am not in the shape of answering questions well - I recieved a few low ratings lately - I'll take a break from AllExperts for the next few weeks/until I'm doing better

I am an adult diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome/High Functioning Autism and ADD.

In the past years I have also read a lot about autism and its comorbid conditions and related subjects (as I am experiencing symptoms of most of these or know others who do) , so I have accumulated a lot of layman knowledge in this area (AD(H)D, Tourette's Syndrome, OCD, sleep disorders, allergies, sensory integration dysfunction, learning difficulties, left/right-brain, giftedness, Irlen Syndrome, prism glasses, executive dysfunction (aka. "inertia"), "special" diets).

Education/Credentials
None in the field of autism, apart from being autistic myself !

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