Expert: Jene Aviram - 4/12/2009

Question
"I have a 24 month old son. His language skills are great and he has good social skills. He takes intrest in other kids.HE has good joint attention and passed the mchat with flying colors. My only concern is that he will occasionally use my hand as a tool. Example of this would be like when i was scrapping food off my table with my finger he said "my turn" and he did it then he said "your turn" and put my hand on the table to scrape off the food. Their are a few( not many) times hes done this in the past. I have heard to is a commom thing to do (using others hands as tools) in autistic kids.The other thing he does sometimes is if he wants to hand me something he will turn my hand over and place it in my hand instead of "trying to hand it to me by showing me". He reponds to his name 99% of the time. Usually the only time he doesnt is if his favorite cartoon is on but if we say his name and he doesnt repond we can add a phrase like want a cookie or come here and he will respond. Are these worrysome signs or not?"  

Answer
Hi Jodi,

From everything you've written I absolutely would not be concerned about autism.  Good language, social skills, interest in his peers and the understanding of turn taking are all areas that most people on the autism spectrum really struggle with.  

You are right, many people with autism use other people's hands as a tool but that alone definitely does not make you autistic.  Many people with autism are really bothered by noise or don't like wearing certain textures and many young kids have a speech delay but this does not mean they have autism.  Autism is a whole package.  You have to posses many characteristics and the degree you have these traits is profound.  I hope this clears it up for you and makes you feel more at ease.

Regarding the "hand over hand" I doubt this is a problem but you should always mention your concerns to your pediatrician.  If he does try and use your hand simply redirect him to use his own.  Regarding responding to his name, 99% response is great.  With autism, the response to name is usually more like 5% to 10%.  Jodi, while I always recommend discussing your fears with your pediatrician, from what you've written here I would say you have nothing to worry about.

I hope this has been of some help.

Jene Aviram
http://www.nlconcepts.com