Signs of Autism in 22 month old?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lining up toys can also been seen in children with a speech delay not just Autism.

You should see a developmental pediatrician or a pediatric neurologist (we used Dr Terry Watkins in Reston) . Maybe do a post here for recommendations.

My son is Autistic and my regular pediatrician recommended daycare when I expressed my concerns!

In my opinion, a lack of imitation such as: using a play phone like he has seen you do versus just mouthing the object, not waving bye, trouble or lack interest in using a fork and spoon, not pointing are good indicators. My son clearly did not respond to his name at 18 months which was a huge flag for us.

I think it is important to keep in mind the distinction between "autistic traits" and autism. Some traits are common in both autistic and in typically developing kids. Also difficult to paint a wide variety of issues of varying type and severity with a single broad brush of "autism."

Kids with receptive language disorders and attention disorders may also have issues with responding to a name. Pretend play is an issue, but it is also an ability that can be late to develop in otherwise typically developing children.

I might suggest googling for something called the M-CHAT or MCHAT. It is an instrument that is administered by the parent that lists many of the traits associated with autism and autism related disorders. The more "hits" and the more "hits" on significant issues would indicate a greater likelihood of autism, but it is an instrument designed to be a first screen...to get a lot of false positives and encourage parents to seek early intervention. If you get a few hits, you can have it in hand when you see your pediatrician. It is very difficult for a busy pediatrician to identify autism in a well child visit. But such an instrument can help with that dialog.

I should add that even if a child does not have autism or a pervasive developmental disorder or whatever name one uses, that does not mean that early intervention is not valuable. Early intervention can identify all kinds of important things.