Expert: Jene Aviram - 3/19/2010

Question
My son will be 17 months old on 3/21 and he has a few behaviors that I am worried about. He only has about 6-7 words, the same that he had at 15 months but now he does put 2 of the words together (Bye Daddy, Bye Bye, Hi Daddy for example). He waves Bye Bye when I tell him we are leaving, so I think he "knows" certain social behaviors. The things that worry me are his speech, that he doesn't know any body parts or seem to care to learn them. He gets frustrated if I try to sit him on my lap and "teach" him body parts. (He just wants to run and play) He loves his blankets, they have different textures on them and when he is tired or upset, he'll run his fingers over the different textures (bumpy fabric and smooth fabric) and it seems to calm him. He's very attached to his 'lovies'. He lets me know what he wants by pointing. But this morning he pointed to the pantry to get a snack and I lifted him up to get his cracker...he grabbed a can of tuna and put it on top of a can of chilies..is this type of stacking noraml? He is very social and loves to play with his older sister (who is 3)...he likes to wrestle. If you are sitting on the floor, he'll run over and try to knock you down...he wraps his arms around you like his is giving you a hug and pushes into you. He plays with trucks normally, pushes them along the carpet.  Once in a while, he'll turn them over and move his fingers over the screws, or spin the tires but I've only seen him do this 2 or 3 times. He likes to flip the light switch off and on and watch the light come off and on and usually laughs or says "Wow" while doing this..but he'll do it over and over again...a good 5 times. He just started pointing to dog and cat in his animal book. Mostly I'm worried that he doesn't have more words than 6-7 and he doesn't know body parts. Also, he used to say the word "ball" but once he learned it, I haven't heard him say it anymore. He mostly says "hi, bye, dada, daddy, bye bye, mama, wow, uh-oh...
He does know how to feed a baby doll with a play bottle and he likes to share his snacks too.

Answer
Hi Laura,

It's impossible to diagnose over the Internet but your son does not present like a toddler that has autism.  The hallmark of autism is that it's a social disorder.  Your son seems to have a lot of this in place.  He displays social behaviors in greetings, he points at what he wants, he plays appropriately with this toys and plays well with his sister.  These behaviors are typically absent in a toddler with autism.

He does seem to have some behaviors that are common in children with sensory challenges.  This can easily be worked on with a good OT.  Some of these behaviors are flipping the lights on and off, pushing hard into you (looks like he's needing sensory input), calming himself with different textures etc.

I wouldn't worry too much about the speech.  He has some words and is putting others together.  If I were in your shoes I would request an evaluation from early intervention.  Make sure you write down all your concerns.  Request a speech and an occupational therapy evaluator.  Ask your pediatrician who to contact to get the ball rolling on this one.  On the whole it sounds like your son could have some delays, but nothing that's too concerning and with a little help and time, can easily catch up to his peers.

I would also like you to read this article called "How do you know if your child has autism?"  It will give you a clear picture of what you're likely to see if your child is on the spectrum.  http://www.nlconcepts.com/autism-howdoyouknow.htm

Another resource that I think you'll find great benefit in is this sensory checklist http://www.sensory-processing-disorder.com/sensory-processing-disorder-checklist...

Schedule that evaluation so you can put your mind at ease.  I wish you great luck and success.

Jene Aviram
http://www.nlconcepts.com