Early Detection?

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Well first, I'll repeat myself--- I'm not concerned about the behaviors individually. I'm concerned about the behaviors in combination.

Second, you're disregarding the context, say, in sharing. She isn't just 'not sharing'. She's playing entirely alone and avoiding the company of both kids and adults. When she's in a room with other kids, she'll take some of their toys and then go and play by herself. It's not just 'not sharing', it's not interacting, or having any interest in doing so. Conversely, the other kids she's supposed to be playing with do play together. So it's understandable for her behavior to be a little irksome.

Well, I think up until a child is about four parallel play is what they commonly do. So, when my boys (one NT the other AS) were little and I set up a play date - they would play in the same room as another child, but not "with" the other child.

That said, my boys are 10 & 15, so it was a while ago it is entirely possible that I just don't remember. I do know that the little one (with AS) would be happy when kids were coming over, and would light up when his brother came in the room.

And, I didn't disregard what you said at all. I said only the parent can judge if something is a cause for concern. You see your child as a whole, I was looking at a list. I just said that as a parent who has watched two grow up, those particular issues I commented on- I've seen them a million times in NT kids.

I just figured what "agi" might mean. Is it possible that she is saying "happy"?

Babies sometimes sub in hard g for p or b in the middle of words. If she doesn't seem to be referring to some thing in particular, she might be describing how she feels, "happy, happy" is something people do say to babies a lot - "happy, happy, what a happy little girl".

If you think it could be that, then try saying back to her "oh are you happy? I'm happy too. Happy mummy, happy baby." that sort of thing.

Some people are very rigid about what they will count as being real words, but I think for comparing with normal development you do need to count the mispronounced words too. In which case that would count as one word and your daughter is within the 1-3 words before 18 months ie normal band. I'm not saying she's not on the spectrum, she could well be and still have normal speech development.

HTH

I think it is common up until about 3 yrs old for children to parallel play. But it sounds like you are concerned that she is just enjoying being alone most of the time. It sounds like she is not "sharing" as in showing you things that interest her or pulling you over to show you things. One of the things that is a big indicator of autism is not having "shared joint attention" as in being able to sit and read books together or do a simple puzzle together. I wouldn't be as concerned about her interaction with other children at 15 mos. as I would about her engaging with her parents or other adult caregivers. Just opinions. Only you can truly understand what is going on with your child, but more than likely, you can trust your mother's instinct if you think something is going on.

I agree with those who have said that the behaviours you describe are not unusual in children that age, but I do definately understand what you are saying about them occuring together and in combination. The head-banging in particular, alongside the other behaviours, is perhaps more suggestive of autism, but it is also not unusual at that age and many children do it and grow out of it. My son is now 8 and still bangs his head.

Where I am it is more usual for children to be diagnosed after they have started school and it would be very unusual here for a child to be diagnosed at 3 years old. That said, I could always see that my son was subtly different from other children, even as a toddler or earlier. When I watched him with other children at toddler groups I described it as if he were in a bubble. I could always pick him out easily from a big group of children playing because he was alway apart, even slightly, and his parallel play did seem more disengaged that usual for toddlers.

I don't think you should be overly concerned at this stage about her speech. At her age her speech wouldn't be considered delayed and it may be that in the next few months she will start speaking in phrases and sentences. My son started with single words at about 15 months, and very quickly started using more complex language. He started slightly later than some of his peers then rapidly overtook them in terms of speech and language.

I think you should continue to observe her so that you have a good record of what's going on if/when she is assessed and meantime keep trying to engage with her. Even though she doesn't look when you are reading, keep doing it as she may very well be able to listen to you and follow a story while she is doing something else.

I wish there was a good book or paper to read on this subject.

A lot of things seem obvious in hindsight.

The really exceptional kids get sorted out at age 1-2. My daughter had one "little professor" acquaintance" who was able to hold a conversation at 12 months using words like "astronaut".

My daughter was relatively late speaking, but not exceptionally so. At the time her relaxed pediatrician wasn't concerned because it was within the "normal" range, but many years later when she went for AS diagnosis it was a red flag...

One of the first words she learned was "No". She learned "yes" later and to this day (at age 12) uses it much less frequently.

She was an extremely anxious and clingy baby. She would cry whenever she lost sight of her Mom.

She was obsessed with paper products. Ripping newspapers and magazines. Chewing on books and boxes.

As she became a toddler and started school, she was a good student. We asked about autism and the teachers said she was simply shy. She did not have the behavior problems of the more overtly autistic kids. She was precocious at reading and math. From age 3-5 she seemed to be doing really well. She played with other children. From age 6 things started to deteriorate, probably because social interaction became more stressful as kids grew.

She showed an early talent for memorization.

She drew shapes as if they were ambient creatures e.g. a rhombus with a smiley face.

She loved stacking blocks.

She loved doing the same thing again and again. She took (takes) no joy in spontaneity.

She was deeply deeply interested in the world of Thomas the Tank Engine. To a lesser degree she was interested in transportation in general (e.g. bus and train routes).

When you have only one child none of these things seems unusual, because you don't know what's usual. Don't all kids love Thomas? And know the details of every engine?

It retrospect it would have helped to get my daughter's diagnosis several years earlier, but I would also be careful about the person or institution making the evaluation. A wrong diagnosis can be more harmful than a delayed diagnosis.

Huh, I'm not sure I agree. I guess it depends on a lot of factors. My son was in early intervention at age 2 (he "just squeaked in" with an audio processing disorder, they told me at first -- it was only after therapy started that the play therapist noticed his odd playing and severe perseveration) and it was all play therapy. I can't imagine any way in which what they were doing could have done him harm.