Expert: Jene Aviram - 1/14/2010

Question
Hi,
I need advice on whether to get my daughter evaluated or not. She is meeting all her milestones, she babbles, waves, self-feeds, etc. My main concern is with her eye contact. She looks at me frequently, but not for very long. She is usually looking around at other things. My friend has a baby her age and he just stares and stares at people. Her eyesight seems to be fine, she can spot me from across the room. Is this enough to warrant an evaluation? As for other signs, she responds to her name most of the time and imitates me. Also, my baby book says she should be doing back and forth gestures and I'm not clear on what that means. She doesn't really give me things yet. I also read babies should start pointing by 12 months, and while she doesn't point yet, she always touches and reaches for things with her index finger. Is that the beginning of pointing? Anything else I should be looking out for?
Thank you!

Answer
Hi Bonnie,

No, I do not think you need to seek an evaluation.  So now that you can breathe a sigh of relief, let me explain why...

You have said so many great things about your daughter.  She babbles, she waves, she responds to her name  and she imitates you.  These are all excellent developmental milestones.  I'm not even sure she has poor eye contact but lack of eye contact does not equal autism.  You have to meet a specific set of criteria and you didn't even mention one other characteristic that's of concern.  On the contrary actually.  And although one can never diagnose over the Internet it sounds to me like your baby is right on track.

You asked what you should watch out for so let me expand on that a little bit.  Back and forth gestures means interacting.  As the months go by these are the things you should watch for as she develops.  As your daughter develops she should wave (already does), shake or nod her head in response to something you say and enjoy games like pat-a-cake.  The pointing is an important milestone because it's interactive.  Toddlers point things out because they want to show others what they see.  Some kids don't point a lot and use language instead.  Either way, it's the interaction that's important.  The wanting to show you something.  She should start to bring you items or toys as well.  If you call your daughters name, she should look at you most of the time.  She should begin to play appropriately with toys.  In other words, if she just spins the wheels of a toy stroller that's inappropriate, but pushing her doll in a stroller with some imaginative play is great.  A lot of young toddlers with autism line things up so that is something you can watch for too.  

Your daughter is very young and my feeling is that everything is just fine.  However, if you're still concerned in a few months, you're welcome to check back in with me and of course, you should always mention your concerns to your pediatrician.

I hope this has been of some help.

Jene Aviram
http://www.nlconcepts.com