Expert: James Michael Roan - 10/1/2007

Question
Dear Sir,
How often should infants respond to their name?  My son is 10.5 months old.  I am slightly concerned because he only responds to his name 40-50% of the time.  I can't tell if this is normal or cause for concern.  He is a very "busy baby", and is very active.  He always smiles (beams) when I return from work, and displays deep belly laughs when we play peek-a-boo or I do other funny things.  Is the fact that he doesn't respond to his name 50-60% of the time a bad sign at this point?

Answer
Hi Brian;

You are right, "failure to orient to name" is the most reliable indicator at this age for a risk for autism. There are, however, other important ones such as social smiles, which you mention here. At this age, we are looking at the beginning of social development. This includes interest in other children and in parents and siblings. Indicators that this development is on course is eye contact, smiling when you approach the child after being gone for a while, and the ability to engage in socially interactive games like peek-a-boo. I have included red flags for up to the first two years to keep with you so can can keep your eye out for your son's social development.

6-12 Month Markers:

·   Infrequent eye contact
·   Failure to orient to name
·   Does not smile in response to smiles from others
·   Social and emotional passivity
·   Fixation on objects

By 12 Months:

·   Poor or no eye contact
·   Failure to orient to name
·   Poor imitation
·   No babbling by 12 months
·   No gesturing by 12 months

By 16 Months:

·   No single words by 16 months
·   No pointing to objects or events of interest in an effort to share

By 24 Months:

·   No spontaneous two-word phrases
·   Loss of any language or social skills at any age


Kind regards,
James