[miaandme]

Not for me but for family.

Would you consider this to be within the realms of normal development for a 2yr 7 month old.

Can say lots of words, but will not use them without prompting (no words until 2ish)
Cannot put 2 words together
Does not use Mummy or Daddy spontaneously.
Knows about half of alphabet
Counts to ten.
Has only just started responding to his name sometimes.
Knows and names body parts (within the last month)
Knows animal sounds (within the last month)
Cannot walk up or down stairs (crawls up and down).
Sings alphabet continuously.
Obsessed with his image in mirror or reflective surface, can look at himself for 1/2 an hour plus.
Seems to be in own world sometimes.
Can follow simple instructions
Doesn't point, but doess wave bye-bye
Poor eating habits with limited variety
Very happy and contented child with no tantrums.

Obviously all kids develop differently. Does this sound like he's going okay? My girls have progressed very differently than this, so I can't offer the family member much information from my experience.

He pretty much seemed to me to have the development of a 12-18 month old until the last month when he now seems to be mimicing words, knows the animal sounds and body parts...so maybe he's just doing a lot of catching up quickly??

From what I've read on here, a lot of things ring the Autism bell, but I'm not sure. Like he saw the coles brochure and said coles.

We talk a lot, and she asks for advice, but I wouldn't want to ring the autism bell, because I can't ever take it back. She knows he is delayed, but thinks he is okay...To me looking at yourself for half an hour or hour in a mirror at this age would be unusual, but they think its fine...

Thanks

[intd242]

I'd suggest she speaks to a paediatrician for advice and leave it at that.

[baddmammajamma]

If this relative asks for advice, and is receptive to hearing it, my strong recommendation would be for her to book in with a developmental paediatrician (specialist paed) to make sure that everything is on track OR to identify possible issues. A GP referral is required. I'm not sure where you/your relative are located, but I have some excellent recommendations in Sydney (as well as a few in Melb and Brisbane).

Though none of us is qualified to diagnose anything on line, you do raise a lot of things that could be considered flags for ASD. You even raise several things that we faced with our daughter -- she had a massive vocabulary of complex nouns but zero two word phrases at 2+. She could also read books at that age but couldn't make a simple "Want juice" request or say "Hi Daddy."

I don't know how your relative would react if you shared this with her, but it might be helpful (how I came to terms with realizing that my daughter's "quirks and odd behaviors" really did require investigation).

http://beautifullyquirky.wordpress.com/201...-you-to-know-2/

One of my favorite web sites is First Signs, which is dedicated to helping parents, doctors & other care givers recognize the earliest warning signs of ASD and related developmental issues. They have a terrific page on how to sensitively raise concerns - parent to parent. It is a really thoughtful piece:

https://www.firstsigns.org/concerns/parent_parent.htm

Best of luck to your relative. It can be really hard for a parent to accept that their child might have developmental issues. The very, very best thing she can do is get them checked out with a professional who is qualified to make the call. There is so much that can be done to help kids who have developmental delays or issues, but those issues need to be identified.

This post has been edited by baddmammajamma: 23/04/2012, 08:45 PM

[miaandme]

Thanks BMJ. I've read all those web-site before, and yes he does have a lot of the signs. There were others I also didn't mention.

I guess I was really wondering if you can have all the signs, and thats not necessarily what it is IFYWIM?

I hear so many stories on here about speech delays and then by 3 they are talking in long, long sentences and all is okay.

Thanks agin

[red_squirrel]

I think it would be best to see a developmental paed as the others have said.


To answer your other question, yes you can 'sort of' to and untrained eye tick all the boxes for Autism and not have Autism. But, it doesn't mean you have 'nothing'. You may have a combination of other things that combined may give a general apperance of the same symptoms. A developmental paed really is the only person who would be able to diagnose any of these things.

In the case listed above I would say the child would benefit from some form of early intervention.

This post has been edited by red_squirrel: 25/04/2012, 02:55 PM

[Alacritous~Andy]

Thanks BMJ. I've read all those web-site before, and yes he does have a lot of the signs. There were others I also didn't mention.

I guess I was really wondering if you can have all the signs, and thats not necessarily what it is IFYWIM?

I hear so many stories on here about speech delays and then by 3 they are talking in long, long sentences and all is okay.

Thanks agin

In short, yes, the early signs for ASD can also be linked to other, non-related issues, such as speech and language problems, hearing difficulties, as well as just "late bloomers". It is exactly this reason why it can be so important to get the imput of an expert, like a dev paed, because it IS complex, and they can be the best people to help tease apart what is going on for that specific child.

With these sorts of issues, early intervention can be massively positive (and is never a negative). If nothing else, even if it just a case of a "late bloomer", the paed might be able to give some strategies to help them get back on track/maximise gains.

[*mylittleprince*]

All children are different but he does seem behind compared to my DS (2 years, 7 months) and his peers.

These things stick out for me:

Can say lots of words, but will not use them without prompting (no words until 2ish)
Cannot put 2 words together
Does not use Mummy or Daddy spontaneously.
Knows about half of alphabet
Counts to ten.
Has only just started responding to his name sometimes.
Knows and names body parts (within the last month)
Knows animal sounds (within the last month)
Cannot walk up or down stairs (crawls up and down).
Sings alphabet continuously.
Obsessed with his image in mirror or reflective surface, can look at himself for 1/2 an hour plus.
Seems to be in own world sometimes.
Can follow simple instructions
Doesn't point, but doess wave bye-bye
Poor eating habits with limited variety
Very happy and contented child with no tantrums.

[Mummy Em]

One idea for broaching it with her might be to suggest she call the child health nurse and get a copy of the developmental checklist that they use for screening kids. I got the 2.5 and 3 year old ones sent to me when I was a little bit worried about my dd1's speach. I'm pretty sure that some of the things that you mentioned are on that sheet for 2.5 years old. I think they are 'supposed' to be walking down stairs with on foot on each step (holding a hand or rail), following particular types of instructions and stringing words. If she fills it out it might highlight for her which areas her LO needs help with (and that he does sound like he needs some help).