Is this unusual play?
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Anonymous
I’m a previous poster who responded to the question OP asked: is it normal for toddlers to fixate on adult cleaning/chore stuff and like pressing buttons? It is very normal! If she wanted to know if this was concerning in conjunction with other things (she already thinks it is and I would reach out to EI), she should have asked that question. |
Anonymous
| OP you sound like you are concerned and looking for reassurance--have you posted previously recently? It seems familiar. We can't reassure you based on isolated indicators, especially when taken in total after your follow-up post, it does sound like you are right to wonder about autism. The only way to know is to get an evaluation. |
Anonymous
Not in combination with the other things OP described. |
Anonymous
OP here- yes I am concerned. What I don’t understand is there are so many autism signs that can be present in neurotypical kids. Like spinning in circles, obsession with certain toys, tv shows or other things, then why are they even listen as signs for autism? I mean should we suspect autism in a kid who has no speech delays but is obsessed with vacuum and loves spinning around in circles? It seems the main distinction is some kind of communication delay and or gross motor delay. |
Anonymous
Have you sought an evaluation with your county’s early intervention service? |
Anonymous
Yes he is doing speech therapy which is basically them helping us parents how to get him to talk and how to interact. He was diagnosed with expressive and receptive delay at 18 months. Had no words at 18 months and no babbling. Since then he has a few words maybe 10. Still doesn’t understand everything, though there has been an improvement. Like when you say where is x person? He will go to the person but won’t point. You ask him can you say bye and wave he won’t wave. You ask him to say hi to someone he will say hi but then keep repeating hi hi hi hi for a while. That just doesn’t seem normal to me at all. Dr didn’t seem too concerned at his 24 months checkup but when I see kids his age he seems clearly behind by several months. Is he autistic? I don’t know but he is behind and delayed |
Anonymous
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OP - children with autism are not abnormal and neither is their play. Their brains are wired differently.
In terms of the constellation of features you described - it matches some autistic profiles, yes. You can do MCHAT screening and put it in front of your pediatrician, if you need a referral. If you dont need a referral - get evaluation. Dont worry if other NT kids spin or not. There is one of you and one of your child in this, doesnt matter what others did or didnt do. I am sorry, this is really hard. But with knowledge comes understanding. My child was fixated on vacs at that age btw. |
Anonymous
If you are concerned then get on a waitlist to see a developmental pediatrician. Your regular pediatrician should be doing the M-CHAT screen and the ASQ questionnaire. How did your child score on those? At such young ages it's hard to predict how things will go. Some kids just have a developmental delay and will eventually catch up. Other kids may end up with a diagnosis and need ongoing support. Regardless, at this age the early intervention strategies will look largely the same. |
Anonymous
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That on its own is not unusual at all. In fact I've heard of several kids having the exact same obsession (vacuums). And almost every kid I know, my 2 included and all my nieces and nephews, have gone through phases where they are obsessed with something. My son has had many obsessions over the years, some typical (trucks, dinosaurs) and some not so typical (bison). Actually being obsessed with a vacuum cleaner makes a whole lot more sense to me than being obsessed with bison! Vacuums are in your house and you can touch and use and to an extent play with them. Bison we never saw in real life but we had to check out tons of books about them, read about them and look at pictures of them ad nauseum and planned trips around if the zoo in that destination had bison or not so we could actually see them in person.
Anyway, if there are other things that also concern you (speech delay or different communication techniques or anything else), surely bring it up with your pediatrician but this one thing is not on its own something to worry about. |
Anonymous
Because all of those things can be normal behaviors to an extent, and unusual after that. Does your child like to spin, push buttons on the dishwasher, and play with the vacuum? Ok. But how much do they do it? Is that all they do? If they do those things occasionally but also play with a variety of other toys functionally/appropriately (e.g., push toy cars and trains around, stack blocks, throw and roll balls, scribble with a crayon, and/or engage in some simple pretend play), then I wouldn't be too concerned. But if their day is consumed with spinning and jumping, spinning wheels on or lining up toy vehicles, etc, etc.. and it is not balanced with more typical play, that is concerning. It's not just about what the child is doing, it's also about what the child is not doing. |
Anonymous
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Beyond normal- in fact, typical.
- Mom and preschool tescher |
Anonymous
Doesn’t sound like enough progress to me. I would bump up your services to include ABA with a focus on verbal behavior. Home based services at first, if possible. Find a BCBA to provide an ABA Intake Evaluation, see what they have to say. www.bacb.com |
Anonymous
Thank you. Maybe thats why doc is not concerned. Its how much and often he is exhibiting these behaviors along with his speech delays. This was helpful. My DH is not concerned and it sometimes bothers me that he isn’t and I drive him crazy about all these signs that I keep seeing but it makes sense now. He is probably not doing enough of these behaviors to raise any concerns as such and I am just paranoid. Every child is different etc etc |
Anonymous
Regular pediatricians can sometimes be too relaxed about delays, so I wouldn't put too much stock into that. |
Anonymous
W/o ASD diagnosis ABA is pre-mature and exorbitantly expensive (diagnosis opens the door to some insurance reimbursements). |