Expert: Valerie Herskowitz - 9/18/2011

Question
My little boy just turned one and his pediatrician is concerned. My son babbled, mostly gagaga, sometimes dadada. He vocalizes more than actual babbling though. He's not focused. Trying to get his attention can be difficult. He is also not pointing or imitating. But he smiles at me and laughs. I can sometimes talk him into giving me a kiss. Almost seems like he teases me by not kissing me sometimes. My husband will ask him to give him five, and he does. He claps and a favorite thing of his is taking two balls and banging them together. Still, he seems very immature for his age. we've been trying to get him to roll balls and trucks. Just found him yesterday rolling a toy train and we were excited. But he won't do that for very long. Obviously, my concern is that he is on the spectrum, but no one is going to diagnose a 12 month old. He was approved for the early intervention program and will be receiving speech and occupational therapy. With these therapies,  Is it possible that any red flag behavior can go away? Im hoping since we're getting him help at such a young age that he'll catch up and i wont even need to seek out a diagnosis.

Additionally, I will add that my parents watch my son during the day. Could he benefit from being enrolled in nursery school? I thought by seeing other kids play he might pick up on how they act.  I know that my mom still
babies him. I thought maybe he is so delayed because he's so sheltered.

Answer
Hi Ashley

Some children are diagnosed with autism at 12 months, but that is unusual. since he qualified with early intervention for both speech and occupational therapy, you must be on the look-out for a developmental delay. Yes, with early intervention, it is very possible that he will catch up and everything will be fine. But, you will have to watch him carefully for the next 6 months.

He is not delayed because he is being watched by your parents. Most children are not exposed to other children in a nursery school during the first year of life. Children at one year old do not interact with other children yet-but eventually, certainly by 2 years old, maybe even a few months before that, you can start to look around for a pre-school setting for him for perhaps 3 mornings a week.

If you have any other questions, don't hesitate to write back.