Expert: James Michael Roan - 1/28/2008

Question
I have recently become alarmingly worried about my seven month old's
language skills.  Right when he turned six month he would babble non stop.
Many mama's, blahblah's and baba's. For the past (about) two weeks it has
stopped. He just screams (with excitement and non) and is not really saying
anything more. He is super smily, likes to interact with me and his toys, loves
people and to be out of the house. He seems to answer to his own name. He
is sitting up and attempting to get on all fours. My question is when to worry
about the decrease in communication? Do babies sometimes just not want to
talk? Everything I have seen points to a decrease in language as a major red
flag of autism. Should I be concerned this early? Thank you.

Answer
Hi Linnea

You are right about loss of skills, but generally there is also a significant loss in social skills and interest as well. The only researched risk for autism atb this age is a "failure to orient to name." That is, when you walk into a room where he is playing, how  often will he turn and look at you when you call him by name?

6-12 Month Markers:

•   Passivity and decreased activity
•   Extreme distress reactions
•   Fixation on objects

By 12 Months:

•   Decreased positive affect and social smiling
•   Delayed gesture and language
•   Poor or no eye contact
•   Poor disengagement of attention
•   Inability to shift attention back and forth between different stimuli
•   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 interesting events in an attempt to share them with another

By 24 Months:

•   No spontaneous two-word phrases

Kind regards,
James