20 mo not understanding us or talking

[Peacingout123]

My 20 mo has zero words, does not imitate words and undertsands very little. He understands maybe 10-15 words and does not follow directions. He sometimes sits if I say sit, will run to the bedroom if I say its diaper change or bedtime will run to the door if I say lets go outside. If I ask guve Dad his shoes or something like that he does not get it. We are seen by a Speech Therapist and are in a play group once a week for toddlers who are behind with speech. My lo is the furthest behind by far. It is scary seeing others much younger than him following directions and talking. We have been seen by a Developmental Pediatrician who currently does not believe it is Autism and wants us to wait and see for now. Has anyone gone through thisnor is going through this? I am worried something is wrong with his cognition.

How does he communicate with you? both to meet his needs (request for things which are out of reach) and to share his interests (like an interesting toy he finds, or a plane in the sky?)?

@AladdinMum wts ur background? Ur on evy single post regarding speech delay. Posting suggestive comments almost making diagnoses?
Most of the time it comes across as if ur implying that kid has autism
Ru autistic? Or u got autistic child?
Stop putting ideas in ppls head.
Ppl come here for positive comments and reassurance. And there r medical professional who can make diagnosis not you!!!!!

My nephew was the same. He took SO long to talk we were all worried. He was not and is not Autistic...just slow to talk. It wasn't until he was well over 3 that he finally began to speak in sentences. Prior to that it was the odd word and nothing at all at 20 months.

@7raina who do you think you are? AlladinsMum is offering nothing but useful questions. Do you usually stalk other users and comment on their appearance on the site?

Bizarre and RUDE! And stop with the "r u" and the ppls"

People on this site use English properly and not like some teenager texting her mates.

@HennyPennyHorror thanks for the support, and so glad to hear about your nephew, he was clearly just speech delayed which cleared up - I assume he was effectively communicating using gestures to meet his needs and share his experiences.

As for @7raina, by the way she writes I assume English is not her first language and probably just not understanding our intentions, we are here to help our children, everything we do is to try to help them. I don't think she understands that children with autism are also amazing children and no less than any other children, they have the same needs, wants and desires as all other children.

Aladin he was actually very introverted and didn't have eye contact either. He's much better now...no diagnoses but he does have some traits. He looks people in the eye and plays with other children in an appropriate way but tends towards some obsessive behaviour and mimicks his Granddad's ways which seems a bit "off" somehow.

HennyPennyHorror I agree that with some soft traits also refereed to as soft markers it can be difficult (ie. all toddlers do quirky things and love repetition, they thrive with routine). A child can be introvert and shy, there is nothing wrong with that while eye contact can be difficult to measure. For example a child making eye contact with you for a split second because the door bell rang (social referencing) is of much better quality than a child staring at your eyes for a minute for no communicative intent. One thing which I learned over the years is that there is a huge difference between being socially motivated (autism does not affect this) and social communication (autism affects this). A shy child could have excellent social communication when he needs to interact while a very socially motivated child could have real struggles with social communication. Better early indicators of autism tend to be hard markers like deficits in joint attention, lack of social referencing, deficits in seeking praise, and lack of pointing to share interests by two years old.

Ah. See I do think my nephew has social communication that matters then. He will do some things which are a bit cheeky and then giggle and look to me for my reaction...same with his Gran. Is that a good thing?

@HennyPennyHorror yes, that would be extremely positive! :)

Have you had his hearing checked? My daughter is 18 months old and has had persistent glue ear with no symptoms at all. The audiologist showed us a chart which had the level where all the different sounds are heard and it was shocking how many she just isn’t getting. We had no idea anything was wrong with her hearing!

I went through this, ds did not point until 2.5 and slowly, gradually started talking and understanding from 3 - not autism though.

@Mummy0ftwo12, out of interest, does your DS have any underlying condition (you said they already ruled out autism) as his development does not sound very typical... children do develop at different rates but not pointing until 2.5 and not understanding until 3 is very very late (other children would be doing this at half his age..), I wonder if something is holding him back.

No AladdinMum no underlying condition, no disorders, s&l delay according to the ADOS/MDA.

Can he get what he wants without using words or makaton? Parents are so in tune with their kids that they just know what they want. And the child doesn't have to speak or sign to communicate. Try introducing makaton signs for easy things like juice, biscuit or more and don't give him anything unless he attempts to verbalise or sign and see how it goes.

Hi any updates please

He started talking in single words just before his second birthday. He received a GDD diagnosis at 2.5 years and an autism diagnosis at 3.5 years. He is very chatty at 7 years old can speak in full sentences but still has a receptive and expressive language delay along with motor delays. He is very sociable but struggles socially because of his delays with comprehension and language.