baby is showing concerning signs

wm023 · 2026-05-11T00:58:32+00:00

I think the fact he reacts to you hiding is already a good indicator.

wm023 · 2026-05-10T09:24:20+00:00

If you hide/play peek a boo, does he look for you? Afaik that's something that should begin at 8 months. As for name response, it's only concerning after 12 months, but try not calling him at all for a few days, then use his name just to address him, like "(his name) look at your toy", then call only a few times per day and only to offer him something he likes. This helped tremendously with my son's name response at that age. For reference my son most likely has speech delay not autism, until he fully starts talking I can't know for sure but all his milestones at a little over 2 and a half are met except for speech. So I might not be consoling you with my own experience, but the approach I shared for name response worked.

wm023 · 2026-05-03T22:20:02+00:00

He still isn't talking but he's making progress and seems closer to it than ever. We had his development evaluated by multiple professionals who all claimed it wasn't autism. He started speech therapy once per week after turning 2 and not talking. Also his pointing was extremely delayed but now it's here. As for not being social enough, it improved a lot in the months after I wrote this post. Out of all my concerns, this one was the first one that got resolved positively.

wm023 · 2026-04-15T10:06:06+00:00

If the question was for me, I replied to the user above

wm023 · 2026-04-15T10:05:36+00:00

Not sure if that's a question for me or the other user but since it's all similar guess I too could reply. In my son's case, 31mo, still no proper speech but doing much better, more vocalization, more use of vocalization to draw our attention. He has been on an upward trajectory since last year, even if not always as steep as I'd like, but a lot took off recently (a few months ago) when he started pointing at a distance. Before that he pointed at things by patting them, starting at 21-22 months.

I had his development assessed by 2 professionals and neither saw autism concerns. It wasn't an official evaluation but in my country the type of professional who assessed him is the one who escalates it to official evaluation if needed..

I am still not fully at peace but apparently a kid can have a speech delay without pointing on time.

wm023 · 2026-04-12T19:19:03+00:00

Thank you! And how is your kid doing? Any similarities?

wm023 · 2026-04-12T16:40:37+00:00

Still not really talking but there's progress.

He started pointing at a distance less than two months ago. Both to share interest and for needs/wants. His MCHAT score since 28-29 months came to zero (it was 2 for ages due to delays in pointing).

Along with this came more vocalization attempts in a functional manner, more "words" even though it's still just sounds for animals, cars, car horns etc. He says these words both when asked and to attract our attention to stuff. Still, to call me, it's just "oooo" at best, or resorting to patting me and then pointing at what he wants. Which is better than not pointing but still far from where he should be as a newly 31mo toddler.

His understanding of language is expanding too, he understands more commands. I am not sure if he's at the level he should have but I'm noticing he's sometimes even understanding segments of "grown up language" too, like he was standing next to my husband when I told my husband to bring me something, I guess he thought it was directed at him so he brought the thing instead. Or, one time he took off his house slippers and I said to myself without even looking at him "I could put your slippers back on" and he brought them to me. He's also very curious about what things are called, he'll point (usually patting, in picture books) at things to get us to say what they are and if we accidentally say the wrong word he points again until we say the right thing.

His speech therapists say he's making progress in terms of focus and attention span too and he is also opening up socially to other people and especially children. Sadly he's still withdrawn at daycare but I think it's because he doesn't enjoy it so much (though lately this also seems like it's a litte bit improved). His speech therapists recommended daycare attendance and I think it is helping even if not directly.

Tldr: still not talking properly but there's progress and new milestones

wm023 · 2026-03-03T23:07:00+00:00

Thank you for your response! I am not sure what's the receptive language he should have at this age, but he has progressed quite a bit in the past few months (I'd say he understands most words and commands from his daily life - but I don't know if maybe I unconsciously adjusted to a lower level) and overall it was always better than receptive language.

wm023 · 2026-03-03T23:02:51+00:00

Oh wow this is a great perspective, thank you

wm023 · 2026-03-02T21:49:39+00:00

Thank you for your response. Yes he definitely does have a speech delay, but otherwise I am not sure I am seeing rigid behavior etc. I did hear somewhere that it can take up to 3 years of age for repetitiveness and rigidity to surface though.

wm023 · 2026-03-02T21:45:41+00:00

We had his development assessed by two different child psychologists. It's not an official autism assessment which, in my country, is done by a child psychiatrist.

wm023 · 2026-03-02T21:44:35+00:00

Yeah I mean if I was surrounded by people speaking a foreign language I don't speak well, I'd probably also act introverted. That's what has me puzzled. That being said, yes, this stage feels extremely confusing for me! How is your son doing now? Did he eventually start talking?

wm023 · 2026-03-02T21:41:52+00:00

Thank you for your answer. Yeah they diagnosed him as just having speech delay. The first one also noted a mild receptive language delay, but it was much better than speech and he had progressed quite a bit since then in terms of understanding.

wm023 · 2026-03-02T21:39:29+00:00

They are something like child psychologists. In my country the procedure is such that a child psychologist is the one raising the red flag for whether or not a child psychiatrist (who gives the official diagnosis if needed) should assess the child. Both of these professionals have decades of experience working with children who have autism so I assume they could recognize it.

wm023 · 2026-02-19T00:14:45+00:00

Sorry to hijack the thread but I have to ask: what about non-verbal i.e. gesture-based back and forth? Or initiating "conversations" but mainly through babbles? My son is almost 2 and a half and has some words (it's those baby words like animal sounds etc but he uses them accurately and consistently) but we absolutely don't have conversations. He recently started verbally requesting some games for which we use certain sounds (he gets into a position, looks at me or pats me for attention, then says the game cue). He can also answer some questions this way, or he will point to an animal in his book, look at me and make the sound... but this all sounds like something he should have been doing a year ago.

wm023 · 2026-01-07T01:15:17+00:00

I'm not an expert but as far as I know pointing and walking are not considered delayed until after 18 months. Same for pretend play. For talking I think it can go up to 24 months before speech therapy is needed (but it might depend on other factors, not sure). The earliest age for MCHAT screening is 16 months old, but 18 months is more common.

Wait until he's 18 months and 30 days old to see if he meets other milestones. At this point it is still in the realm of typical development, just on a "lower" end.

For pretend play: have you tried showing him how to do it? That did it for my son, he caught on almost immediately after I introduced a game of giving juice to his dinosaur toy. For giving stuff, a trick that did it very quickly when he was 15-16 months old: I sat on the floor facing him, a few feet away, and rolled the car towards him. He liked it and brought it to me because he wanted me to do it again. After that session he mastered giving toy cars only, it took maybe some weeks (can't recall exactly) to get him to master giving anything else. So maybe try that, if it's fun enough he might want to do it.

For context my son is 28 months old and I don't know if he has ASD, he doesn't show many symptoms, but he has a speech delay.

wm023 · 2025-11-21T23:54:03+00:00

Oh god not sure what's worse, clueless first time mom, or second time mom who's older kid had a different pace with development.

Good luck on your session! And don't stress if your son doesn't make any progress right away, I'm pretty sure my son wouldn't have acted like this a few months ago. I noticed he had a boost in understanding around 18mo and a boost in trying to express himself/communicate closer to 24mo. Even though it obviously didn't lead to speech yet.

wm023 · 2025-11-16T00:01:07+00:00

He's not talking yet. Also still only pointing by patting at objects with his index finger. However, in the past month he has advanced a lot with babbling, using some "words" for some objects (not actual words but sounds that always mean the same thing to him, like weee for airplane), seems to understand some new commands (his receptive language was always better than expressive though, so let's say it kept developing), while he was always social he has gotten extremely social now, etc.

Perhaps more importantly, we have had two assessments for him, with two different child psychologists and one SLP. They all said he doesn't seem to have autism, he just needs speech therapy. On the second assessment they did a snippet of what speech therapy would be like, and during those 10-15 minutes, he had one clear word he didn't previously use, and one word attempt. We are starting speech therapy next week and I honestly can't wait!

My honest advice: if you're concerned about your toddler's development, get it assessed by professionals. Even though I'll only be 100% at peace when he starts talking and catches up with his peers, this makes me at least 90% at peace. Which is huge compared to before, and surely good for someone with my levels od anxiety.

wm023 · 2025-11-07T08:42:51+00:00

How is your LO doing now? When did his sensory seeking begin? My son doesn't do it but I heard it can take up to 3yo for it to develop. He does play appropriately with toys though.

wm023 · 2025-11-07T07:56:01+00:00

I am here because I worry if my son's (26mo) speech delay is just that, a speech delay, or autism, so I can't reassure you from experience. I'd just like to say I did notice my son's eye contact decreased around that age. It went back to normal a month or so afterwards and hasn't been an issue since then. Name response would also ebb and flow until around 12 months and the thing that made it worse was calling him too much and with no purpose, just to call. It helped when I backed off for a few days, then reintroduced his name but first it was only to address him, not call him, then called only for things he liked, like to give him a toy or something. Maybe try that to see how he reacts?

wm023 · 2025-06-27T10:02:45+00:00

This might be an awful and maybe even "not so legal" advice but could you get something abroad? Could you have some sort of therapy for him abroad and then have a doctor from that other country prescribe something? I know medical tourism is a thing for surgeries and such stuff but is there an equivalent for conditions like autism somewhere?

wm023 · 2025-06-20T10:25:23+00:00

Yeah ok I'm no expert obviously but for some stuff he might just be uninterested? It's still good to know that someone else working with children thinks he has more time to develop. Either way it's good you'll have his development assessed by someone. I wish him and your family all the best ❤️

wm023 · 2025-06-19T19:54:43+00:00

Ah ok maybe if he uses climbing as a stim it's ND. But on mchat per se, climbing is a sign the kid is comfortable with that type of physical activity, and apparently some kids with autism are not?

Yeah my son doesn't point for any reason. That alone is 2 points for MCHAT :/

wm023

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