I'll try and keep this as brief as I can. I have an 18 month old daughter and I can't help but wonder if she is showing early signs of ASD. I know its very early to be thinking about this but I want the best for her and don't always feel like I'm doing a very good job.
Its just certain things, like she will walk round in circles until she falls over from dizziness, pull her hair and get very frustrated, she shakes her head and hands a lot too and runs around on her tiptoes and sometimes even with her eyes shut! Its hard to engage her in anything for very long before she wants to get going again! She will climb on the furniture and seemingly purposely throw herself off, we have to catch her like goalkeepers! Sometimes she gets so angry she'll do little fists and her little knuckles will go white from clenching them and there's no obvious reason for her to be angry. She's had a few bumps like most toddlers but I get so worried about her getting seriously hurt and feel on constant alert!
She has difficulty with sleeping even when we try and keep everything as consistent and relaxing as possible. She also doesn't respond to her own name, or say hello or goodbye or wave to anyone. When out for a walk she wants to walk a particular way (like along all the white lines on the football pitch in the park or over every grid or along straight lines in the pavement) and if you stop her, she will throw a tantrum.
She will cuddle and kiss but its not often and she is only comfortable when she initiates it, and she's been this way from quite young. If someone cuddles her and she hasn't initiated it then she will push away even if its mum or dad.
Last week she started a little football group and spent the first ten minutes of the session running around the goalposts, and then wanted to kick all the footballs, including everyone else's! The other parents and the coaches were good about it but I'm not sure if it will be something that she'll want to do every week.
I don't want this to sound like I'm complaining because I'm not, I'm super proud of her, I'm just worried because as a first time mum during the pandemic I don't feel like I have had a point of reference as to what to expect, and I want to be doing the right things for her development and I never feel like I'm doing enough!
I have also had very little input from the health visitor because of the pandemic. My daughter's health review at 10 months was conducted over the phone and was focused more on milestones, which she has been consistently ahead of. The lady doing the assessment even called her super baby! She was walking at 8 months and can already count to 10, knows her alphabet and a lot of words for her age, she loves learning and seems to pick things up pretty quickly.
So should I try and get in touch with my health visitor to talk about any of this or am I overthinking things completely? I just feel like I'm struggling, and so does my husband. We both work and when one of us isn't working then we're taking turns looking after our daughter. We don't get any downtime really and we're both on edge most of the time.
If you've taken the time to read all this then thank you, and thank you in advance for any advice or information.
