16 months and looking more like autism

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Hi,

I posted on this forum a while back ago when my son was just 9 months old. I decided to start a new thread to post an update and also get some support.
My son is 16 months today and still missing some milestones for communication, mainly:
He babbles some but doesn't say a single word yet, he does not imitate anything we say or do, inconsistently responds to his name (to be precise he rarely does), doesn't clap or wave and has poor joint attention and eye contact. He also seems to have very little understanding of what we say to him, although he will sometimes follow simple instructions like "bring me the ball". He will sometimes follow a point or point himself, though it's not what they call "3-way pointing", as in he will point but not look at us to "share" his enjoyment / fascination of whatever it is he's pointing at.
Overall, his development seems to be "stuck" for the past several months now, whereas my understanding he should have been blossoming at this age.

He is getting services through Early Intervention and I have hopes that will help him make some progress.
Has anyone else gone through the same experience with their children at that age? How are they doing today? Are they verbal at all? I've already come to terms with the high possibility that he is autistic, I just hope he'll be of the high functioning type.

Thanks in advance!!

At least he follows these directions sometimes.

The part about the lack of speech becomes real worrisome, in my opinion, when somebody becomes 2 years of age.

The lack of imitation is sort of troublesome. I really wish I were there to see your kid.

I'm glad he's getting early intervention services. This offers the opportunity for many of these things you mention to "kick in" soon.

Please don't lose hope. Babies/toddlers are funny creatures. To me, out in the street, many of them seem "autistic" in a lot of ways.

My Oldest son was hyper and into everything. he did not talk until he was 2, and then it was clear sentences.

He hated being held and cuddled. one he was mobile he disliked most physical contact.

He rarely came when called, as he would probably either be climbing the wall unit or checking out the wires behind the tv or trying to play and figure out the hifi system.

I remember his first birthday we had a party and he disappeared in another room and it was time for the cake. We called and called and he never came, so i put on his favourite music ( Guns n Roses ) and he run through and danced.

He is now 27 and a father, and does not have autism or aspergers, although he was odd to begin.

Kraftie is right in saying many kids under 5 seem to show asd traits, which they often grow out of.

Also the early intervention is the best thing for him at this point.

keep a close eye, but don't forget to enjoy these times, as they are gone quickly.

Thank you both.
Just received the updated EI eval report today. Apparently he is more than %80 delayed in communication.
I don't even know if it's reasonable to expect him to catch up that much, assuming he should be talking by 2...

How is he in RECEPTIVE language?

His receptive seems better than expressive - he will sometimes bring us the ball when we ask him to for example. Sometimes responds to "NO" or "come here" (rarely though). Not sure he understands much more than that.

Didn't they give him a test called "CELF?" It tests both receptive and expressive language.

If he scores "age level" in receptive language, his prognosis is much better.

They used a test called DAYC-2.
He scored 81% delay in receptive. From the report:
In the area of receptive language, J demonstrated solid skills to 3 months with a scattering of skills to 12 months according to the Rossetti Infant-Toddler Language Scale. According to parent report and observation, J responds to sounds other than voices, responds to “no” half of the time, attends to pictures, performs a routine activity upon verbal request, and follows simple commands occasionally (with environmental cues and within familiar contexts). According to observation J responds to a speaker very inconsistently, does not maintain attention to a speaker, and looks at the person calling his name (two times out of ten opportunities across three people, during the evaluation – the two times were in response to his mother calling him). Parent also reported the following emerging/inconsistent skills: discriminates between firm and friendly voices, responds to “where____?” questions (rare), and waves in response to “bye-bye”. J had never been observed to cry in response to an angry voice, recognize family members’ names, respond to “no” most of the time, attend to new words, look at familiar people and objects when named, gestures or vocalize in response to verbal requests, participate in speech routine games or identify any body parts on himself. J does not respond to requests to say words, enjoy finger plays, respond to give me commands (without gestures), or maintain attention to picture when engaged in adult-led book interactions.

According to the DAYC-2, J demonstrated a developmental level of 7 months of age as he demonstrated only emerging skills in the following: briefly stopping activity when his name is called, responding with appropriate gesture to the language “up”, “bye-bye” and other routine language, following simple commands (only occasionally and only familiar commands or within routines) and responding to “where ___?” questions (very limited). Therefore, he did not receive credit for these skills.

Yep.... he needs Early Intervention. But sometimes, kids do catch up. I didn't speak until I was 5 1/2. I caught up rapidly after that.

Are you reinforcing what he learns in Early Intervention? That helps, too. Because he has to learn to do things within all environments--whether in the therapeutic, or the informal home environment. Sometimes, kids do things in therapeutic situations, and don't do them at home. If you don't do this, he won't make as much gains. He won't be able to "carry over" his gains from the therapeutic to the home situation.

You have to make sure the skills "carry over." That's the goal of Early Intervention.

Sometimes....and this is true.....kids start learning skills at a rapid rate. One thing leads to another. Sometimes, what is called "scaffolding" occurs. This means, basically, that if he is able to do one thing, he could do many things which he wouldn't be able to if he wasn't able to do that "one thing."

Thanks kraftie.
I feel that "one thing" you speak of is imitation. If he could imitate, I'm sure everything else would follow.

You really can't back off on this. You have to be diligent about this. You might even have to go down to his level. How do you feel about crawling on the floor? I think that would help him quite a bit if you spoke to him from a toddler's point of view.

Above all, you have to maintain your optimistic attitude. If you don't, the kid will be able to notice the pessimism. And the therapist, too. When the therapist senses that, he/she might not do as much for your kid.

I'm going to be honest: you would do better at this than me. I have a hard time relating to kids on a "kid" level.

But you have to play an active role.

Great tips kraftie. I will do my best to stay optimistic. We already get down on the floor and play with him quite a bit. We rarely turn on the TV or just let him sit there and play by himself. Always trying to get in his space, especially his Mom (much more than I do).
Btw, may I ask how you are so informed on this topic? Just curious

Thanks again!

I have a Bachelor's Degree in Speech Pathology.

By the way. Things on TV aren't always bad for kids. I'm not a keen Teletubbies fan. But maybe Teletubbies might help him. And things like Sesame Street. There's lots of good kid TV all over the place.

Who knows? Maybe he might respond to something like Pokémon. Or superheroes.

What's bad is RELYING SOLELY on the TV.

In the case of my son, the clearest indications of autism at that age were rigid and repetitive behaviors. He was addicted to spinning things and watching ceiling fans. Trying to end these favorite activities always resulted in a meltdown.

Other issues were sometimes present but not always strong. It wasn't very clear.

Language development came slowly -- especially functional use of language.

That's the thing with my son, he doesn't show any of the "atypical" autism behaviors like repetition, flapping, meltdowns, sensory issues, etc.
He's just...delayed, or rather very delayed. I don't know what to make of it...

Neither did I when I was pre-verbal.

Does he seem to have any special interest yet?