Expert: Trey McGowan - 11/11/2008

Question
QUESTION: Let me give you a little background information before I ask my question. I have two children, my oldest is 5 years old and was diagnosed with Mild Autism/PDD-NOS/Kinda sorta touches the spectrum (depending on which school offical you speak with) I was pregnant with my youngest when my 5 year old was diagnosed and I do realize I have been paranoid about him ever since. That said, no one has been able to answer the one question I have that concerns me. I get alot of "hes too young to tell yet" or "your being paranoid hes fine" but none of it answers my question /cry.
Baby info: He can and does recipricate a smile and will smile when his dad comes home, but I dont know if he will smile first (Im so stressed out atm he may just be feeling that from me and doesnt smile at me unprompted because of it). Also he was supposed to be born feb 13th however I was enduced early (due to doc thinking he was going to be huge which he wasnt) and he was born jan 17th 08.
My concern is about my 9 month old laughing he will laugh if you tickle him or some physical action and when he laughs it is a Hehe Heh heh and thats the only consistant laugh we get. Occasionally my 5 year old can get him to hehehehe heh by shakeing his head (the 5 year olds head) and maybe once a week I can get a Heh (each time) out of him by playing peekaboo extreamly over exageratedly but thats it. No big belly laughs, no laughing fits (like the ones you see on youtube). My question is two fold.. 1 what exactly IS a normal laugh for his age and 2 is his lack of giggle fits cause for concern at this age?

ANSWER: Hi there, Linda!

You're asking 'What is a normal laugh?'. I ask you, go out on the street, tell one hundred people a joke, and then tell me which ones give a 'normal' laugh. You'll get the 'heh', the 'HAHAHA', the 'Hee hee hee', the snorter, the hyena-giggler, the belly-laugh, the hissing-snicker, the Joker-guffaws... well, you might not get exactly one hundred different laughs, but you'll certainly get a lot of them.

Even at nine months, laughter can be a very individual thing. Some children break out into squealing laughter, some of them are mad cacklers, and some of them give a few simple 'hee hee hee' and stop right there. There isn't really one 'normal' laugh for a child of that age. Is your child laughing? Then he is finding something funny, because at nine months old, there is no such thing as duplicity and 'laughing to please Mommy'. There's just laughter.

Questions? Comments? Follow-ups? Feedback? As always, they're welcome and I'm quite available!

Trey

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QUESTION: Ok so laughs are different, however is it normal for 95% of laughs to have to have a physical trigger? IE tickling/zerbits. Shouldnt he be laughing at things that amuse him as well? He also doesnt laugh every day but he doesnt seem a grumpy baby, are babies supposed to laugh every day?

Answer
Hi again, Linda!

At nine months old, many children won't be amused by the things that older children and adults. At nine months old, your child's sense of humor, such as it may be with some people, is not fully developed yet.

I can't help but wonder what you are looking for him to laugh at at this age. He's not going to get jokes, and he's certainly not going to appreciate stand-up comedy. At nine months old, his development in understanding is focused mainly on, well, developing understanding. That means that the things that amuse him are very simple things: physical ones. If the child is getting to be four or five and is not laughing at the more sophisticated* things, then there is definitely a need to worry.

* The use of 'sophisticated' for Barney or Teletubbies is debatable.

Right now, the fact he's not a grumpy baby means that he must be showing some signs of amusement at things, even if he is not laughing. Smiling? Making happy faces? Clapping? Those, too, are all signs a child uses when amused, before development and imitation tells them that laughter is the appropriate way to tell of this amusement.

Give your child to the age of a year, if he is not showing any other signs of developmental disorder. At nine months, it is very difficult to be able to diagnose anything anyway, because the child is still developing. After that, if your concern is still intense, then I suggest discussing the matter with your therapist, doctor, or whoever it is that your first child works with.

Hopefully I was able to help you! Take the time and enjoy your lovely nine-month old rather than worrying so much; you'll never have those years with him again, after all. :) Questions, comments, all that jazz, are welcome as usual!

Trey