Possible Autism

jwebbbber45678 · December 2016

I'm possibly seeing a few signs here with my fifteen month old. Mostly that he won't always respond to his name and that he's not using many words. He says mama and some form of daddy. He just learned ball. He babbles a ton though and uses many sounds. These are the only missed milestones thus far. I'm wondering if anyone has experienced anything similar. My sister has two boys on the spectrum so it is in the family.

KissMeImScottish · December 2016

Based on just those two things, I seriously wouldn't worry yet. My son is alert, reactive, makes good eye contact, and is intensely curious and mobile. He knows his name, but decidedly does NOT respond to it every time. I'll say it ten or twelve times sometimes before a tap on jos shoulder get him to pay attention. I chalk it up to a toddler attention span. My pediatrician's expectation for his verbal ability is three words by 15 months. My son has got "hi" down pat, knows "mama" and "daddy", though he doesn't say them with any consistency, and he just learned banana ("nana") and is making an effort to say our dog and one of our cat's name. All of this literally just started in the last week. I completely understand the worry, especially with it being present in yoir
family, but I really think you don't need to worry unless your doctor expresses some concern.

jen83mn · December 2016

Our almost 16-month-old doesn't use many words either; he'll use momma and daddy consistently and babbles a lot, but he understands tons of words. If we ask him to do something or go get us a specific toy or book, he knows exactly what we're talking about and does it.

Our pediatrician didn't seem concerned at our 15-month visit. She said between 18-24 months their language development really takes off and we could expect him to say a lot more words during that timeframe. Our nephew (not autistic) didn't say a word until he was well over 2, but he understood a lot. When he started talking, he was talking full sentences and went from no words to tons very quickly.

I would check with your pediatrician at his next visit if you're concerned because of the family history, but just remember that all kids reach milestones at different times and boys are also usually slower with language development than girls (at least I think that's what I remember reading!).

missliz53 · December 2016

I wouldn't be worried. Every baby develops at their own pace and they are so distractible at this age) Amelia's OC said that comprehension comes before words. So if he seems to understand what you are saying to him (go get your ball, where's the cat, let's go upstairs, ect) then he is on his way. If you are still worried, talk to your Ped or check to see if your state has an early intervention program. If they do, you could have them evaluate your son to give you some piece of mind. We are in MN's program and it makes me feel so relieved to have an expert set of eyes on DD. At this point she is caught up, but because we qualified for the program because of her sensory gag, we can still get services.

jwebbbber45678 · December 2016

Thanks! The doctor didn't seem too worried but he did score lower on his developmental milestone test for symbolic and verbal. He was only off by one point so she just said we'll see how he does at 18 months. She said sometimes kids are so focused on motor skills developing that it can be at the sacrifice of other skills but it usually evens out. He stared walking at 8 months so he's always been ahead with the physical stuff. When I told my mom he was slightly behind she was absolutely convinced that he is autistic. Now I can't get the idea out of my head! If he is that's fine with me, I just wish my mom wasn't so quick to diagnose though!

yellow1daisy · December 2016

It's funny because my pediatrician said the same to me about many kids tending to focus on one aspect of development which causes them to lag in another. My daughter is the total opposite of your son. She says tons of words, probably close to 30, and she communicates her needs verbally (asks for food, water, milk, sleep, songs, says done and tells me when she's pooping), BUT she didn't crawl until 10 months and has only JUST started walking a few days shy of turning 16 months. We were worried we may have to take her in for physical therapy but she got there on her own on her own timeline.

I wouldnt worry about it just yet. Definitely too early to diagnose just based on this. I'm sorry your mom is being such a pessimist about it.

jwebbbber45678 · December 2016

Thanks yellow1daisy, that is the total opposite but definitely in line with the idea of a more dominant developmental aspect. I'm hoping to hear more words in the coming months!

jen83mn · December 2016

Echoing a PP about dominant development aspects, my son was an early crawler and was walking at 10.5 months. He's always been really advanced with his motor skills, hand/eye coordination, etc., and definitely comprehends most things we say to him - he's just taking his time on verbalizing everything! The past few months, his favorite "words" have been "dis" and "dat" while pointing at something, so we tell
him what things are and he definitely remembers the next time.

Oh, mothers and their diagnoses! My mom does the same thing ... she was convinced my son had colic at one point when he was younger cuz he was crying a bit more than normal, but it was in the middle of a leap and it was nowhere near the point of colic. Try to brush it off! Moms tend to worry and then make us worry as moms!

amp61470 · December 2016

My LO is babbling but no real words yet besides "what". He chooses to ignore me at times too. I have had early intervention involved since he was a month old as he was born with low muscle tone. They have no concerns about autism. He makes a lot of eye contact and is very social.
Remember milestones are an average age when kids will do things. Mine isn't walking yet either, though strangely he dances while standing on his own! The develop in their own time. Don't panic Mama!!

ElleMF728 · January 2017

My oldest was consistently behind in verbal skills until just before his second birthday. Then he had a word explosion and now he speaks and communicates better than most kids his age. Like previous posters have stated he was consistently ahead in his gross and fine motor so we just figured he was more focused on achieving those milestones. Once he was basically a toddler in terms of kicking, jumping, climbing etc. he became a little more interested in speaking.

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