Did anyone have a child with limited understanding at 18-20 months?

[mscongeniality]

My son had an appointment with a Paediatrician yesterday due to his lack of speech at almost 20 months and she thinks its better to get him early intervention now rather than later.

My bigger concern is that he doesn't seem to understand or respond to simple tasks and commands either so his language can't progress until he starts understanding it.

I'm just wondering if anyone had an 18-20 month child who had limited understanding but started progressing later?

My DS had an initially severe speech and language (understanding delay) so no words / understanding at 21 months, with the help of a private speech therapist and extra 1-1 help at nursery he is slowly catching up - the first words came just before 3, he pointed at 2.5 - autism was ruled out at 3.5 but for a long time it was a worry.

I found the website teachmetotalk.com a great help.

Thank you! My lo has been pointing for a long time. Everyone said oh once he points it will.all.come. He has been pointing since 16 months and in the last couple months it has been like excessive pointing. He used to know 5 or 6 body parts and would point correctly each time and in the last month he will randomly point to parts when I ask but its never the correct part which is bizarree. In the last couple days he has pointed to our dog and said her name a couple times as well as he grabbed his shoes and said shoes and then today he brought me my shoes and said shoes. I did not beleive it when he did do it and halfly feel like since there was no lead up (he does not copy our sounds) that I imagimed it but I heard it clear as day. So hopefully he keeps.progresssing. it is just so hard wjen they are severely behind. I like the site you posted. Perhaps I will order the DVD.

Hi Op, I'm really grateful you have been updating. I know it's easy to fear the worst.

I wish I hadn't spent so much time worrying about my DS and his speech between 18months and now ( he's 3 yrs.) I just wanted to say that my DS has also made very very slow progress and I just think for some children they need longer taking things in. No overnight miracle here, but you are not alone. They will get there.

Hi everyone,

My daughter is 17 going 18 months old.

She doesn’t react to her name she never has. She only knows two kind of words ma ma or da da.

She isn’t able to point or interact with something for very long.

She has absent staring a lot of the time like she’s in her own world and I can’t bring her out of it.

We have been through audiology, ABR assessment and all clear. No ENT problems.

The next step is the EEG for the absences in hope that will give us some answers.

I’m hoping she might start interacting with me a bit more before the EEG. She has a full development check with the HVs next week.

The only other problem that has happened is, we think she had measles in November and it’s since then that we thought she had hearing problems as she used to be able to clap her hands when we sang to her and since this illness she has stopped and definitely had regression. I think I have seen her wave goodbye once before this illness too.

Hope everyone gets answers soon.

Hi everyone,

Sorry I havnt updated in ages as I wasn't sure if anyone was following but anyways I know how nerve wrecking it can be when you don't have what the future holds.

My son is just over 4 now and doing so so well. He's intelligent, knows far more than his average peer and is bright, kind, playful, has many friends at his nursery and is loved by everyone.
In terms of his speech it didn't bloom overnight, he started off at about 2.5 saying lots of single words and by 3 he was joining multiple words together and now by 4 he has full sentencnes. However he is still slightly behind his peers in language but we're confident that he will get there. He is due to start mainstream school in September and hasn't had any diagnoses. Anyone who meets him never thinks he's behind at all.

Happy to answer any questions anyone may have :)

Thanks for updating Msc - my little one is nearly 4 and slowly getting there with speech and language. Hope the transition to school goes well for your DS.

Hi ms congeniality 😊
So so happy for you that everything turned out great with your son !
I have a son , just turned 18 months, he walked very early , rolled over very early and crawled even earlier ! But now at 18 months , he is near enough word for word the same as you described your son on your first post!
I don’t think he understands me, he cannot say anything at all , will not point or bring me anything I am worried sick I can’t even sleep at night ..
He seems so happy and loving but I can’t help but think there’s something not right 😞 I am hoping and praying that I have a similar outcome to you and he will just blossom on his own , my main worry is he seems to flap his hands a lot and bounces up and down on his knees and I think these are classic signs of stimming for a child with asd , if you have any tips that would be great!

Songlad to hear you are having a great outcome. My lo.turned 2 last week and I am happy that in the last three week's he has began to start repeating sounds and words and has ten words of his own, far from the 50-100 words minimum for this age but I am so stoked that he actually has some words and is attempting. The problem is he still is not following commands and his understanding does not seem to be progressing. You mentiomed when your lo started talking but when did he truly start to follow cpmmands and understand you? Also tips would be great. He sees speech but I am all about doing as much as I can. Thank you so much for responding on this thread.

I’m in the same situation.
My son isn’t nearly 2.5years old.

He says about 5/7 words but not all the time sometimes just randomly. He also doesn’t respond to his name. Maybe a few times if I’m lucky . He can’t follow instructions at all.

He has been speech and language and is now on the waiting list to see a a speech and communication paediatric.

I’m also worried sick . Can’t sleep can’t eat.
It’s like his in his own world .

He rubs his legs together where his private parts are?

He doesn’t point at all. If he want a juice he will go to the fridge and bring it to me same as food/snacks ??

Anyone know what this can be

I just wanted to post another update in case anyone has been following or for anyone who might come across this post in the future.

My DS is about to complete his first 6 weeks in Reception and I couldn't be more pleased with the progress he has made. He started out not even holding a pencil properly but in just a few weeks he can write his own name! He loves writing and always asks to do his homework after school. Not such a big fan of reading but knows his phonics really well so I'm confident he'll get it soon.

He loves going to school and has made the transition from nursery to school really well. His teacher had only positive things to say about him at the parent teacher meeting.

His speech is still not at the level of most of his peers, but it doesn't hold him back too much yet. He is still able to communicate all his needs, and has made friends in class.

He's usually quite hyperactive so I was worried how he would get on at school with having to sit still and listen but he's been doing it so well, when I pick him up I always see him sitting nicely at his desk and following along with the teacher.

Overall he's doing really well :)

@mscongeniality what a great update! :)

@Brogan19 you have valid concerns and he needs to be seen by a development paediatrician. Him not pointing and having a receptive language delay at 2.5YR is concerning.

Hi @AladdinMum , just wondered if you could give me any insight to what you think to my sons situation ...
He’s 20 months old , never said anything ,has limited babble and very limited understanding he can understand when I tell him to come to me and when I give him his spoon and tell him ‘bay do it’
He’s never pointed , he’s never really asked for anything at all in any way! The only thing he’ll do it take my had and lead me to the door if he wants to go out.
He walks in his tip toes sometimes not all the time , he’s started to spin himself round in circles but when I tell him to stop he will, he flaps his hands when gets excited a bit too.
And also when we are walking he has no sense on danger he will just run off and not come back if I call him! He does respond to his name most of the time.
He had also started to look at the tv at a weird angle like tilting his head to the side 😕... I have been reading sooo many posts and everything I can tell is all point to autism.
He has a hearing test in December to rule this out first and a speech and language appointment in December also.
Thanks , very worried mum ...x

@kellbelle92 I do think you have very valid concerns and he needs to be seen by a development paediatrician. There are many 'red flags' in your description, and while many of them in isolation are not concerning all of them happening together is concerning. A child not pointing to request and to share interests by 18M is always concerning and should always be investigated.

That’s for your reply ,
I knew it was concerning just didn’t know how much 😞 have you any experience in autism ? I have tried speaking to members of my family , friends about him but they all seem to think he’s fine ..
I am just very worried for what the future could hold for him .

@kellbelle92 yes I do, it is not as scary at it may initially sound, I promise you. However, it is not certain that your son has autism, other things could be at play hence why he really needs to be seen by a development paediatrician to get to the bottom of it.

I just want to get him the help he needs really @AladdinMum .. I never pointed out the positive things he does .. he does give quite good eye contact , although he gets distracted very easily.
He will hold you hand to walk down the street nicely now I have taught him and he seems to of picked it up that taking your hand will lead him somewhere.
I believe that the key to starting to communicate with words is pointing am I correct in saying that? Sorry for all the q’s ! Just you seem to know what your on about haha

@kellbelle92 those are great positives! yes, pointing is very important - there is a very strong correlation between pointing and both expressive and receptive language.

From your experience do most children with
Asd learn to use spoken language ? I am just trying to learn as much as I can so I can help my boy

I wanted to thank you for updating because reading this has given me so much hope . My son is 18 months and just like your boy in pretty much every way. He has a lack of understanding , only two words , no pointing and has been late to clap and wave however is brilliant with puzzles ,stacking things and opening the baby gate haha . He is due his 3rd hearing test soon and was also turned down for an early referral , I have worried myself sick and cried countless times over the uncertainty of his future . I have been constantly analysing him when I should have just been enjoying my happy boy . I’m still well aware that my son could possibly be on the spectrum but I can not tell you how nice it is to read a thread with a this outcome.

So where do I start my little girl is 19 months old and she only says about 2-3 recognisable words but she can go days without saying any of them. She also doesn't point or follow my point ( she may follow my point if I tap on what I'm pointing at). She does interact with me for example when music comes on she turns to me and starts dancing waiting for me to do the same , when I do she smiles at me.

I'm just very worried as when we go to play centres or similar places it takes her about 40 minuets to even notice there's other children there and even then she won't go near them unless I'm there with her. She does bring me toys that she is playing with. She also does wave bye ( sometimes) and she claps whenever she does something good. I'm just worried that she's showing signs of autism as her eye contact isn't the best with other people or me sometimes.

I should also mention that she has had a hearing test and we found out that she has fluid behind both her ear drums so now we are waiting for another hearing test this month.

mscongeniality Hi, so how is your baby now and what did you do? I have 18mnth old now and we speak native language at home and everyone else outside communicates in English with him. Sometimes i feel he dont understand our instructions too. Any info you share is helpful. thanks.

@Murupudi from my personal experience, kids who are learning multiple languages at once often talk much later than kids just learning one.

I have twin babies both are very active and happy. One of my baby she doesn’t show interest in toys and playing. She doesn’t point things , waves occasionally, she respond to name 50/50, makes eye contact 50/50, she smiles back when smile at her, she understands hide seek , she knows when rhyme is playing she knows who is papa says few words like tata dada Atta maa , she holds her milk bottle herself . I m trying to teach her things like what is ball give me this or that but she seems not paying attention to learning. What to do I m very worried thinking that if my baby has autism if anyone experience this please help me

Hello I've just come across your message from 2016 and I was wondering if you could tell me how your son is now?
My 16 month old sounds exactly the same as your son did and it's worrying me every day.

I hope you get this

@kellbelle92 I have been reading yout posts on some autism threads and kean to see how your DS is doing? Sounds very much like my DD thanks x