trying to figure out what to do next?

[Anonymous]

Any words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated. I have twins boys, they are ~ 2yrs old. They were assessed by Infants and Toddlers @ 18 mos. They were fine with everything except receptive and expressive speech. They have been followed by speech since last September and have made progress. One is progressing along nicely. Still has a speech delay but was assured he would catch up. The therapist and I are worried about the other twin. He is alittle behind his brother. He does not always answer to his name. He answers to his name ~60% of the time(per therapist). Per the therapist, sometimes he zones out when playing with certain toys. We took those toys away. He does not tippy toe or flap his arms. He points to the things he wants. If you ask him where the boat is he will point to it. But if you point to the boat and ask him what that is he won't say it. He has good eye contact. No texture or clothing issues. He has fair eye contact. Per the therapist, he looks at you ~60-70% of the time (I agree with this assessment). He enjoys playing at the playground with other kids. He does well in social situations involving small groups of kids (10 or less). He does not do so well with larger groups. I feel there is something wrong with him. I was thinking of getting him evaulated by an OT privately and see if there is anything we could do to help him. The case worker assigned to us took the "wait and see" approach and suggested we put them in preschool. Which we are planning on doing this month.

Thanks for any advice!

[Anonymous]

It does not sound like he is autistic or even on the spectrum to me. He only has two red flags and those only occasionally. I think that many children do not always respond to their names (my daughter does not, she is not on the spectrum)

But to be safe I would have another assessment done by a developmental pediatrician. You're on the right track anyway by already having him do speech therapy.

[Anonymous]

I agree with PP... as far as the groups, I consider a group of 10 or less to be quite large... many toddlers would have trouble in larger groups than that. He does sound speech delayed but I don't hear any other major red flags... maybe it's just a gut feeling you have? It sounds like you're already on the right track.