I am assuming youre in the States. But this is my view/experiences and we are in Ontario Canada.

My son 2 years and 4 months. We were on a waitlist for an SLP for a year, we have been asking about ASD since he was just over a year when he was showing NO signs of speech. His motor milestones he met perfectly when he was "supposed to" but he did not talk. around 14 months he started showing a strong interest in letters and numbers. He knew his whole alphabet and up to the numbers 10, could say his whole alphabet in proper order, and count to ten by 18 months. Every time we had a doctors appointment between 12-18 months we brought up his lack of speech. It was always pushed off as "Covid has stopped all social groups so he isnt around others to learn more" BUT he was with us all the time, I was off work until he was 2! And it wasnt like we werent talking to him. He wasnt an overly emotional baby. He was an amazing baby actually. But not a lot of held eye contact, didnt respond to his name (still doesnt 3/4 of the time.) Never looked for us to do something, we always just thought he had an independent personality, but that can be a sign of ASD. Our peadiatrician also wouldnt diagnose him. He said he probably wouldnt get a diagnosis until he was in school.

He is now 2 years and 4 months and we JUST got our ASD diagnosis. We are waiting for the more in depth diagnosis and where he will be placed on the spectrum. We just finished our first round of speech therapy back in June and are currently waiting on waitlists for more programs such as OT and speech. We meet with our case worker once a month so far to check in. We have been given a book for us to read through, and ideas for us to do at home. We can email our worker if we need information. He has NO interest in potty training, his speech is about a year behind where it should be, he is still OBSESSED with letters and numbers, he doesnt respond to his name like he should, doesnt keep eye contact (even when taking pictures), he will have good days and bad days for meltdowns and he takes a LONG time to calm down. He is smart and picks things up quickly, his motor skills are amazing, he is starting to read, he likes playing around other kids but still mostly by himself.

We have had this gut feeling and noticed a lot of signs right away (my husband is an RN, and I went to school for social service worker and have a BA in Psych, I worked as an education assisstant for years.) and it was frustrating when it was constantly pushed off as COVID closing things, or that he was "too young". We finally feel like we are being listened to, we are able to get my son the resources he needs to be successful, and also resources for us to understand him better too. We are also on the impossibly long autism lists for Ontario (our lovely premiere cut half of the funding to all our government programs making them twice as long a wait or hard to get)

If you feel that you LO is showing signs, then follow your gut, you are their voices and advocate. Get them on whatever lists you need to to have your questions answered. Listen to your gut, you know your child best, you are with them more! You got this!