Expert: James Michael Roan - 3/10/2006

Question
My son is born on sep21 1999.Everything is fine with him,his mathematics skill his eye contact,but I am concerned about his language problem.We are indians the language spoken is Hindi.we came to united states three years back,before coming he used to speak Hindi but when he started going to school he stared talking in English.It is two years since he is going to school in United States which is a good time to make him talk english comfortably.He is now not at all comfortable in Hindi,ofcourse he understands but cant speek much.He is not very fluent in english also.His accent is the same like Indians and makes many gramatical mistakes.He is finding it bit difficult to say big and difficult words.His vocabulary is poor than even five year old kid.I am concerned whether he has anything to do with autism.pleaseanswer me regarding this.
PS:he has poor concentration andis not a very good listener.
thanks
meeta

Answer
Hi Meeta;

I see this pattern of language development often. It happens when a child is exposed to more than one language at school and/or at home. The research says that while this situation may initially result in some language delay, that it actually improves facility with both languages in the long run.

In autism you are looking mostly at a social delay. You would expect to see delays associated with low social thinking and motivation such as a social language delay, a lack of social gestures used with language, playing by oneself, a lack in quality and quantity of pretend play. An inability or lack of desire in chatting back and forth with a peer, etc.

Does your son enjoy playing with others? Does he want to play with others? Does he smile at you or anyone else when they walk into a room and call him by name? Does he point to objects and/or activities that interest him in an attempt to share them with you or others? If you are able to answer "yes" to most of these questions, then I don't think you have any worries for autism. If you are still concerned, feel free to contact me.

Kind regards,
James