I agree with the "wait and see" approach.

I've had hand flappers and I've had autistic kids with hand flapping, and there's just something different about the hand flapping in autistic kids.. it's hard to describe.

My most severely autistic child would not turn to look at us when we said his name in that sing songy voice at 12 months. All the other kids would look to see what I wanted, but not him. Other kids who were much less severe, may or may not look when called... it was just a toss up. All of them WOULD look at me when called as they got older and were in therapy.

The autistic kids had poor social skills even at 12 months. They never thought I was funny. (i'm very funny) they seemed to cry more, but not really want to be held... they just were upset more often.

Look on Youtube under "hand flapping autism" and see if any of those videos look like your little one, or if it's just her own little perfectly normal quirk.

Reply