Worried. 12 month old baby girl not responding to her name

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My amazing daughter just turned 12 months last week, but still does not respond to her name.

- She is very social with pretty much everyone (including strangers). She seeks out people (both adults and children to interact with.

- She babbles constantly in consent and vowel sounds...

- She loves to open books and pretend read.... She also was shown once how to use the "lift the flap books" and she always looks for what is underneath.

- She is a very easy going kid...

- She sleeps throughout the night and very very rarely wakes (maybe once a month if that) up in the middle of the night...

- She can walk unassisted throughout our house.... She does like walking around things, but I think she does that for balance..

- She feeds her self (bottle with one hand) and regular food by hand...

- She has good eye contact and laughs when we laugh....

- Loves TV and knows the difference between programs.... example she has a HUGE smile when she sees the Song Summer from Frozen... The other programs she will watch, but she is so happy when she sees that one.... She 100% recognizes it....
FYI - my wife and I think we were actually allowing her to watch way too much tv throughout the day and are cutting back big time....

- She uses her pointer finger to point to things

- She reaches out for us or for something she wants (e.g. objects)

- If we take a toy it doesn't bother her... she just moves on to the next thing.....

- She does clap one her own and sometimes mimics us when we clap....

- She loves to walk and walk and walk around our house.... She doesn't mind the pack n play but sometimes screams in it.... She is always VERY VERY HAPPY WALKING AROUND THE HOUSE

The only big cons are that she does not answer to her name and she does not mimic us when we gesture (e.g. waving or blowing a kiss)

My wife saw our ped for her 12 month checkup and she said she wasn't worried, but I am not so sure she is right since knowing your name seems to be the biggest sign for detecting autism for young kids.

I would appreciate honest and constructive responses.... I will also very much welcome and stories that are similar to mine that have turned out to be nothing.....

I do agree about not worrying; however, it is easier said then done....

I just also noticed she likes to go in the kitchen and open up the cabinets and grab stuff... If I stop her with one cabinet she goes to the next....

I mostly concerned with the not responding to her name.....

I want her to have a normal childhood.... go to a good college and get a nice job.... I am scared all of this it going to hurt her.... I worry a lot/ today has been horrible regarding this....

This may not be the best place to ask this as a lot of people here have a type of Autism that never caused them to experience speech delays or immediately obvious symptoms at 12 months. So you may not get what you're looking for. This is after all primarily a site for people with Asperger's (now called ASD).

But I will say this, unless she is deaf that "not responding" to her name is something to be concerned over. Even despite her meeting all those other mile stones as you say. Just watch it. If she appears to be regressing and going into her own world please consider a child psychologist.

I don't know anything about theory but I remember that my nephew did not respond to his name. He was sitting on sofa between his father and me, watching TV. He got up and went to the TV, seeming intend to press buttons. His father called his name name; the child ignored it. Then he noticed my knitting on a chair and turned to that - disaster if he gets his hands on it! Then I was calling out his name in a panicky way. Then his mother, with a slight edge on her voice, called his name. Then Grandma called his name with curious note. The child ignored all of us.

When his father added the word Look to the child's name, then we got a response. The child approved of the new toy and ran back to his father. I went to save my knitting.

I wasn't worried about him and neither was Grandma (who raised 4 of her own). Grandma told me later that the child had found a way to become the centre of attention, on the rare occasions when he wasn't. It was a game - he'd ignore somebody calling his name and then everybody would be calling his name and waving toys at him etc. She said if they would ignore it, the game would stop. I don't know if it did.

I do know that he developed just fine, grew up, and recently graduated with honours from Univ. of Toronto (Journalism).

bethannny - your tone was very rude.

I am going through a lot right now, and you really need step back and think before you respond to a post.

There you go everyone, an amazing daughter has ONE thing unusual about her, so she MUST be autistic and OUR LIVES ARE ALL RUINED!!

It sounds like typical baby like behavior to me. Your description doesn't really identify anything which you need to worry about too much in a 1 year old.

All kids progress at different rates for different things.

It's also not unusual for a parent to worry that the child isn't doing things which they perceive to be as expected. As a parent, you're going to worry. The worrying, by the way, doesn't get easier.

The internet also makes things worse. You worry that something isn't "normal" (a human condition that really does not exist) so you take to the internet to search for answers and the next thing you know, the child has this or that. Trust in the professionals that you come across, such as the pediatrician.

If your child does have Autism, she can still have a "normal" childhood, go to a good college and have a nice job. Autism isn't a sentence, it's just something that, for most, makes some things more challenging. For me, I had a somewhat normal childhood, went to college, got married. I was going to say that I have a good job. I had one, but I lost it due to my Autism. I didn't think saying that would be entirely supportive

If your child is still presenting these behaviors in a year, then you can deal with it then.

She responds to Music and TV Programs so her hearing I would assume is fine...

It has to be something bigger.... at least I assume.

I think this thread should be moved to the parenting section. I also think that you should enjoy your daughter instead of worrying. Next time you start a thread, post it in the parenting section.