When people say kids/people with ASD are "friendly" it doesn't mean they have NT social skills. They may want to talk and approach people, but it won't be appropriate and reciprocal. If you see your child actually making friends and playing cooperatively/flexibly with other kids their same age, that's a good sign. Just watch for a while how most kids play at that age to get a sense of how normal socializing looks.

Anonymous wrote:

I'd be careful of an ASD label until his speech comes in more. The eye contact may come with speech and the repetitive actions can also disappear.

+1

+2 I will add that I have one DS (in MS) that continues to have language issues. At times, he has poor eye contact because he is struggling to process language (listening or speaking) and incoming visual information increases the challenge. I have another DS (in HS) that still has a sterotype. Neither kid is on the AS - and, believe me, they've been evaluated thoroughly over the years.

I'd be careful of an ASD label until his speech comes in more. The eye contact may come with speech and the repetitive actions can also disappear.

+1

My niece has HFA and has always been overly friendly.

My brother is on the spectrum. When he was little, he would talk to anyone. If he got lost, we'd find him sitting on a park bench next to some random person, chatting away. Lots of little kids are very friendly, but some kids with ASD are really friendly, really fast, as if they have no sense of personal boundaries.

On the other hand, you might just have a very affectionate and friendly kid. Sounds like more testing is appropriate.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Originally the developmental pediatrician concludes that my 2 year old DS is not autistic, but has some stimming behavior & needs speech evaluation after 30 minutes of background asking/observations/testing. However, the second that DS hugs her out of blue & lean his head/body against her with giggling & big smile, the pediatrician comments that is unusual & asks me is DS always friendly to strangers/other people. I tell her yes, and DS has been friendly with big smiles to a lot of people since he was little.

And, then pediatrician starts to ask if DS has any milestones didn't meet age appropriate when he was younger. I said yes that he didn't point/wave/recognize his name/making better eye contact till past 2 years old, but now he is doing all these quite really well. The pediatrician says that autistic kids can improve skills over time. But her main concern is that he is too friendly to strangers (which include herself).

Sounds like the doctor isn't sure either so that is why she is recommending additional testing. Nothing wrong with getting additional data.

Agree.

Time will probably clarify things. As an FYI teachers and ST aren’t qualified to diagnose autism. Being overly friendly can be a trait many kids on the spectrum have—like wanting to talk to everyone—over sharing with strangers or giving hugs to people they just met. My kid goes to a sn school and this trait is fairly common.

Just treat his issues as they arise and sort out potential diagnoses as needed. Sounds like you’re on the ball with therapies so I wouldn’t stress too much over is he or isn’t he at this point.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Originally the developmental pediatrician concludes that my 2 year old DS is not autistic, but has some stimming behavior & needs speech evaluation after 30 minutes of background asking/observations/testing. However, the second that DS hugs her out of blue & lean his head/body against her with giggling & big smile, the pediatrician comments that is unusual & asks me is DS always friendly to strangers/other people. I tell her yes, and DS has been friendly with big smiles to a lot of people since he was little.

And, then pediatrician starts to ask if DS has any milestones didn't meet age appropriate when he was younger. I said yes that he didn't point/wave/recognize his name/making better eye contact till past 2 years old, but now he is doing all these quite really well. The pediatrician says that autistic kids can improve skills over time. But her main concern is that he is too friendly to strangers (which include herself).

Sounds like the doctor isn't sure either so that is why she is recommending additional testing. Nothing wrong with getting additional data.

OP here. Originally the developmental pediatrician concludes that my 2 year old DS is not autistic, but has some stimming behavior & needs speech evaluation after 30 minutes of background asking/observations/testing. However, the second that DS hugs her out of blue & lean his head/body against her with giggling & big smile, the pediatrician comments that is unusual & asks me is DS always friendly to strangers/other people. I tell her yes, and DS has been friendly with big smiles to a lot of people since he was little.

And, then pediatrician starts to ask if DS has any milestones didn't meet age appropriate when he was younger. I said yes that he didn't point/wave/recognize his name/making better eye contact till past 2 years old, but now he is doing all these quite really well. The pediatrician says that autistic kids can improve skills over time. But her main concern is that he is too friendly to strangers (which include herself).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Being way too friendly at that age does not rule out autism which is what you are asking. My DS with ASD/ADHD was like that when he was two but did not have a speech delay which is why no one suspected anything. DS was a very mellow, friendly baby/toddler and modeled for a top agency in NYC.

DS was diagnosed with ASD when he was 4 yo by ADOS, psyched eval and the developmental pediatrician.

Enjoy your baby! Your baby is still the same kid with or without an ASD diagnosis.

My ASD kid was (and still is) very friendly too, so you are right it doesn't rule out autism. But I read OPs question to be that the dev ped said that friendliness was a symptom of ASD. Maybe OP heard it wrong?

Being too friendly at that age is problematic. The dev ped could interpret as not getting social cues but the kid is two! I suppose it's the entirety of symptoms not just being too friendly which makes the docs suspect autism and recommend ADOS.

For DS without speech delay or repetitive movements and ok eye contact, being too friendly at 2 was not considered problematic. DS had absolutely no fear of strangers and thought everyone was his friend at that age...

Anonymous wrote:Being way too friendly at that age does not rule out autism which is what you are asking. My DS with ASD/ADHD was like that when he was two but did not have a speech delay which is why no one suspected anything. DS was a very mellow, friendly baby/toddler and modeled for a top agency in NYC.

DS was diagnosed with ASD when he was 4 yo by ADOS, psyched eval and the developmental pediatrician.

Enjoy your baby! Your baby is still the same kid with or without an ASD diagnosis.

My ASD kid was (and still is) very friendly too, so you are right it doesn't rule out autism. But I read OPs question to be that the dev ped said that friendliness was a symptom of ASD. Maybe OP heard it wrong?

Being way too friendly at that age does not rule out autism which is what you are asking. My DS with ASD/ADHD was like that when he was two but did not have a speech delay which is why no one suspected anything. DS was a very mellow, friendly baby/toddler and modeled for a top agency in NYC.

DS was diagnosed with ASD when he was 4 yo by ADOS, psyched eval and the developmental pediatrician.

Enjoy your baby! Your baby is still the same kid with or without an ASD diagnosis.

I'd be careful of an ASD label until his speech comes in more. The eye contact may come with speech and the repetitive actions can also disappear.

Speech delay, poor eye contact and repetitive actions are signs of potential autism, but I've never heard of "too friendly" in a two-year old being a sign. Older autistic kids may miss the signs that someone doesn't want to talk or play and so be too friendly in that way, but I don't see how that applies to a two-year old.

In general I wouldn't say that's a "big flag" but with other symptoms you listed then yes it would raise a red flag.

My 2 year old has speech delay, inconsistent eye contact, some repetitive actions, but he is really "social" and loves to play with any kids/adults. The developmental pediatrician is suspicious of him having high auction autism or mild autism because he is way too friendly. He is aware of the difference between strangers & familiar people, and he sometimes can be shy at strangers. But once you talk to him/smile at him, he thinks that everyone in the world is his friends. I always see how amazing he can be playing with random kids at the playground, range from younger toddler to adults. He is never a loner even though he can't talk. He loves attention & loves people. He loves to go to daycare everyday (because he can play with teachers & friends), pretty much no cry at all with him spending almost 10 days a day there from day 1. His daycare teacher & speech therapists tell me that they don't see he is autistic, but anyway, ADOS test is ordered to help to see if he is autistic or not. I am confused here that too friendly can be a big red flag of autistic?