Autism & Pica

Can I ask how you went about a pica diagnosis? I’ve been wondering about it with my little boy who’s currently under referral for potential asd. He’s obsessed with trying to eat wet wipes, any types of wood and anything plastic 🫠. I’ve been telling myself it’s just the usual mouth exploring but wondering if he should’ve outgrown it by now? Typically, they won’t diagnose or refer for assessment for autism before age 3 unless very severe/complex needs. I actually work in/alongside SEN and it’s very unusual for them to do anything about neurodiversity before this point. My son has involvement for possibility of it because he’s delayed in all areas and autism has been mentioned but his referrals so far have been to support until they can refer for assessment xX

I literally just thought the same, usual toddler behaviour exploring, until my health visitor came over to do a recheck from her one year visit as she scored low, and I told her and she said no this isn’t normal.. so went to my GP urgently and they referred me to the paediatrician urgently at the hospital and they diagnosed it. She’s been referred to community peds for an autism assessment. It’s so hard isn’t it, my little girl eats literally anything and I mean everything and anything.. x

Ooo thank you! I might mention it at his next appointment, it’s never been something I thought of as out of the ordinary lol. He will eat anything he finds and mouths it ALL but he has an almost obsession with wood and wet wipes in particular. It’s so strange. He sees the HV every 2 weeks for weight etc as he’s recently been diagnosed with failure to thrive (due to losing weight and centile dropping despite eating like a machine) so I’ll deffo mention it. And has been referred to hospital paediatrics for it all but they’ve said they won’t do an assessment before 2 at earliest but will support him. He’s literally got SALT, OT, physio, eyes and audiology, HV, portage and paeds…it’s been a bloody whirlwind so please message if you want to chat or go over anything!😂 But thank you! I’ll definitely speak to them as I just assumed it was normal so never brought it up and no ones seen him at home yet xx

Can I ask, out of curiosity as my son eats everything! What types of things your little one eats? My son is 16 months and mouths everything! His new obsession is pulling tyres off of wheels of toy cars, but he will put sand in his mouth and eat it (wet or dry), brushes, balls (big ones that he couldn’t swallow if he tried) etc

My baby likes eating everything and also stopped talking so much, it's like ally he words he was saying have vanished onto thin air

Sorry for my late reply, oh I can’t even begin to type like everything.. cat food, dog food, grass, soil, stones, moss she finds on walks, anything and everything! Xx

My little one is 17 months and still everything is in the mouth and i mean anything she can get her hands on, I thought it was just kind of normal and she would outgrow it soon, could I be wrong?

Oh plus she puts everything in the mouth but is so reluctant to eat or try foods