toddler crossing fingers

star1123

I have posted here a few times, and appreciate all of the advice and support throughout the last year as my son was in EI:)

My son is 2.5 years old, and has been receiving speech and spec ed services since last summer.  He was slightly delayed in language, but caught up before he turned two.  Now he's right on track and soon to be dismissed from EI, which is of course awesome. 

I have always had fears of autism when he did start to become behind with speech.  The spec ed therapist is AMAZING and has assured me countless times my son does not fit on any part of the spectrum.  I know I have heard terrible stories of therapists, but she truly is awesome, and actually specializes in autism, so I do trust her.

The main concern I have now is he does cross his middle finger over his index finger maybe once or twice a day for a second at a time.  I know this is a thing kids on the spectrum do.  But is it something toddlers just do?  It seems whenever I look it up, it is something that just screams autism.  

I have talked to the spec ed therapist and she said that it doesn't fit.  She said my son is social, has friends, initiates play with friends, doesn't have any stims (although I did bring up the finger crossing), makes eye contact, demands attention from me and DH when we play, wants us to look at what he's doing, etc.  So yes, I get it, but still.

I guess before I let this all go, and let him be dismissed from EI, I was hoping for your opinions on this.  

 Really, just curios if it is possible for a toddler to do this type of thing and be typical. 

mommytoconnor

I am curious to see how people respond to your question. My son just turned 3 and for over a year I had him in ST,OT, for SPD, I was also told by many professionals that he just doesnt' fit the ASD criteria, but fits all the SPD criteria. I noticed a few times that my son would do this for just a second or two and it was rarely he ever did it, but I heard this was a big ASD thing.  I asked my OT who also specialized in ASD and SPD about it and she said yes it is a red flag for ASD but can also be for SPD.  They get a joint compression kind of feeling from doing this.  I was told not to worry about it since it was very rarely he ever did it and he hasn't done it in almost a year now.

star1123

A friend of mine's son also does the finger thing, but does a variety of other hand posturing as well, and he has been evaluated by a dev ped who has said no ASD.  So frustrating.

My son and I just spent awhile playing inside and while he colored he told me he was drawing these imaginative pictures.  Ex - a plane going to the store, lots of pictures of mommy and daddy.  Then he did a whole pretend play thing with his dinosaurs.

This is all fantastic, and i am beyond thankful.  I wouldn't want anyone to think I'm not appreciative of all of the good things my son does.  It is just that it also makes it frustrating because sometimes I DO want him to fit somewhere.  Especially now since he's being dismissed from EI.

kcisthebombdotcom

star1123:

A friend of mine's son also does the finger thing, but does a variety of other hand posturing as well, and he has been evaluated by a dev ped who has said no ASD.  So frustrating.

My son and I just spent awhile playing inside and while he colored he told me he was drawing these imaginative pictures.  Ex - a plane going to the store, lots of pictures of mommy and daddy.  Then he did a whole pretend play thing with his dinosaurs.

This is all fantastic, and i am beyond thankful.  I wouldn't want anyone to think I'm not appreciative of all of the good things my son does.  It is just that it also makes it frustrating because sometimes I DO want him to fit somewhere.  Especially now since he's being dismissed from EI.

i can feel your pain. My son was language delayed in toddlerhood but was no longer delayed by the time he was 2.5. We have a pretty strong family history of delays/neurological stuff like apraxia and ADHD so I worry. He still has tons of sensory quirks like loud noises and he still has pretty poor eye contact but he's doing great socially, behaviorally and academically so there's really not a whole lot we can do.  We just get him evaluated yearly through child find and hope for the best. 

mommy0411

My son has an ASD and crosses his fingers like that, but I think its sensory related rather then ASD related. The fact that your Ds can pretend is huge and kids his age on the spectrum definitely can't do that. My DS is just a couple of months younger and he has no pretend play. I know its hard but try not to worry! It sounds like he is doing great!

ToastieSimons

DS1 is globally delayed due to a genetic disorder.  He is not on the specturm at this time.

He crossed his fingers ALL the time from about 2.5-before he was 3.  It's funny I remember when he used to do it all the time and now that you said something I can't recall the last time I've seen him do it.

I think for DS1 it was just an issue of "I can do this and it feels nifty" and after the novelty wore off he moved on.