Published on 12, July, 2020
Hello everyone,
I have a beautiful one year old I am really concerned about, in particular with his lack of imitation, babbling and excitement.
I get lulled into thinking he's ok because he is very capable physically, he is very dextrous, patient and determined. He loves toys, he just doesn't want to share the game with me. He doesn't ever show excitement that isn't about strong physical stimulation, or about recognising a familiar pattern. He does have good eye contact but the only time I feel he's 'there' behind his eyes is when I'm singing a song he recognises and the second I stop it switches off. He does make sounds but to express his state, he doesn't copy any sounds or gestures and I am terrified he won't ever learn to talk.
Worst of all I find it terribly hard work being with him because there's no back and forth which makes me feel I may as well not be there and I find it desperately hard not to just withdraw. I crowbar myself into his games, which he tolerates but does not exactly share, or I leave him to it. If I leave the room, he probably will too but not seemingly to find me, just to move on to another thing he likes to do - climb stairs, open the washer door andbite the mouldy part (sigh...)
I know any suggestion that vaccines are a cause will incense a lot of people who feel this is blaming. But this is not about you, it is my own observation of my own child and there was a definite change. This was not even the MMR, which he's not had as he's not quite one, but after his 4 month boosters, which we gave him at 6 months because he'd been ill. After the booster he stopped sleeping through the night, which he had from 4.5months. He also stopped babbling, although he had been a very chatty baby and people had commented on how like his mother he was. Although he had copied me poking out my tongue at only a few days old, he stopped imitating us completely.
Watching videos of him at 4-5 months is heartbreaking. He is 'chatting' all the time, waving his hands with excitement. It feels like he's turned from a typical, chatty baby into a busy, unnaturally calm robot. My heart is breaking. I don't want to wait and see, I need to know what this means. I need to know if there is anything I can do to bring him into the world of sociability.
Please let me know if any of this seems familiar and if it does, what is the best way to support him, in particular with learning to talk. Thank you.
I came onto this forum asking for advice and support. I did not say vaccines cause autism in my post, I only made the observation that my son showed signs of regressing after receiving them. This was one detail of the story and not meant to open a long discussion about vaccine safety.
I am not saying vaccines are THE cause of autism. I am simply saying not enough research has been done on the long term effects of vaccines to be certain there are none. As far as I am aware there is no known cause of autism, so neither of us can say with certainty what the cause is, (or is not). I feel we would do best to keep an open mind and we should all resist claiming our different opinions and experiences are objective truth.
Perhaps you only intended to reassure me by saying vaccines are perfectly safe? But I don't like to be told my opinions are wrong and that (because you disagree with them) they must necessarily be without foundation. This is more than blunt, it is disrespectful as well as ultimately unhelpful.