Expert: Valerie Herskowitz - 7/25/2009

Question
hello Valerie i hope that you can help me. my daughter is almost 17 months old and she used to say a few words and has now stopped talking sometimes she says mamma but thats very rare. she does babble and smile if you are playing with her but she has never responded to her name. even if you yell her name to her see will not look at you. she also will not make eye contact if she is watching TV or playing with a toy and you talk to her she wont look at you even if your get right in her face she will look around you. she makes eye contact sometimes but she wont look at you for long. she also really doesn't point to things unless she sees me do it and if i tell her to look at something she doesn't always look in the direction i am pointing. she does like to be held and loved on and will come and sit in your lap with a toy and play. she also does get excited when she sees other children and will play with them but i guess you can say she will get bored and go off and play by herself. any advice you can give me would be greatly appreciated im heartbroken over thinking my little girl could possibly be autistic. so my question to you is does this sound like autism?

Answer
HI Briana,

I can understand your heartbreak.

Briana, I am not a doctor so I am not allowed to diagnose your daughter. However, I must tell you that your daughter does exhibit certain characteristics of autism.
1. Had some words and now they have disappeared
2. Not responding to her name
3. The lack of eye contact
4. Going off and playing by herself

It is a myth that individuals with autism don't like to held or loved, however the fact that she likes other children is a good thing.

So, Briana, as hard as it is for me to tell you this, you need to get her to a team of professionals for an evaluation. She is very young and some professionals will be reluctant to diagnose her at her age. Regardless, she must receive speech therapy as by her age, she should already have some words that she uses regularly. Plus if you need me to help you develop a home program for you to do to get her going with her language skills, I can do that for you.

Again, I can not diagnose, but it does appear that your daughter has some delays in development which when worked with at an early age, can improve dramatically. We call that early intervention. You are in a good position to begin with her at an early age. Those children that receive intervention when they are young can make great strides and improvements. We recommend a minimum of 25 hrs per week of stimulation. You can do some of that yourself at home doing certain speech and language activities.

So let me know how you want to proceed. I can be here for you both as a parent and professional. I will be thinking about you, so keep in touch.