My Son

[DPKR]

Hello, this is going to be long post.

My DS is 27 months old.

THINGS HE DOES: Knows few shapes, 1-20 numbers, A-Z, few words which he had spoke only a few times and some colors. He hardly throws any tantrums. no issues when we change his activities. If he want some thing, he would hold my hand and take me near that object asks me to carry him and he would grab it by himself... .he would make eye contact when I am singing something he likes or say something he knows. He follows few commands. would respond to his name if followed by command he understands. If I say out loud what he is holding like shapes or colors he would hold other objects in air and look at me expecting me to answer what he is holding. very little pretend play which comes and goes.

THINGS HE DOES NOT DO: no consistent eye contact, no consistent response to his name, no pointing to things he wants, no trying to get our attention, he plays by himself and runs around from one corner to other, not the entire time but when he does not have much to play with.

He is getting therapy since last 9 months. I have read a lot about ASD. Is there any way of knowing if this just the way he is as in personality wise or its genetic and he actually has autism? Has anybody been in this situation, and have some advise for me?

Autism is a social communication disorder so it will significantly distort normal and expected social communication. Some things can be attributed to personality but other things are critical for normal development. For example, there is a very strong correlation between not pointing after 24M and autism (in the US a child not pointing to request and show interests by 18M will be failing the MCHAT and would normally be referred for further tests/assessment). Other areas that are typically affected would include showing/giving items of interest (like showing/giving the parent a big leaf that the child finds in the park), not seeking praise (children love praise and would seek it from parents for very minor things), difficulty to engage in pretend play (feeding dolls, using blocks or other objects as phones, etc), lack of social referencing (increased eye contact when cautious or something unexpected happens), etc - basically areas around social communication. His list of strengths is strong and very encouraging, his cognitive ability does sound on track with his shapes, numbers, and letters, however, the 'things that he does not do' is slightly concerning for his age and it should be investigated further.

Thank you so much for response. As growing up he was pretty interactive and active baby therefore we started putting him inside pack and play(to keep him from crawling around) and when he started climbing out he was mostly buckled up in his high chair. He didn't get enough interaction with adults as it is required. He was a happy smiling, making eye contact and cooing back baby. While he was buckled up, when he would see us walking towards him, he would extent his arm and smile back to be taken out from high chair and as time went one day he stopped smiling back and would just look at us and eventually he started looking other way when we walked towards him (buckled in high chair). His grandmother was taking his care and because she only had enough physical strength and my DS was an active baby she found a solution to keep him safe by keeping him buckled. Is it possible that this could have lead to his "aloofness"?

Yes, it can be, i.e. personality, however as it is happening at the same time as him missing some key skills it is concerning. Regressions tend to normally happen between 18-24M (i.e. regressions after 2YRs old are very rare) where a child that previously was developing normally starts to loose skills - this is also referred to as 'the onset of autism' and hence why a child loosing skills should always be investigated. However I do agree that he has a very strong set of skills with high cognitive ability - it is certainly not clear cut.

Thank you. I hope everything turns out alright for my DS.

Regardless of outcome, I am sure it will turn out alright, with a mum (or dad) like you behind him how could it possibly not? :)

Thank you, that means a lot. :)

Hello @AladdinMum,

My son has started making good eye contact, I am afraid to type it as I might jinx it. He had developed a few self help skills such as drinking from cup, using spoon and fork. He understands the concept of using toilet but cant tell us when he needs to use it. We are still struggling with response to name, he would response one in a while but not consistent. He has very good attention span, can do a activity for 5-10 mins by himself or with someone else. Can I say that he is making progress in right direction? what else can I do to help him get out of the spectrum? Like I mentioned before, he does not have issues with clothing or any kind of food, but according to his OT, he is sensory seeking and he has low muscle tone. Even with low muscle tone, he is running, jumping(started to jump a few weeks back) and very active toddler.

That sounds like great progress! Do note that there is no way to get anyone 'out of the spectrum', at the end of the day he will either be in the spectrum or not, nothing will change that. Though he sounds like he is making progress, and that should continue, he seems to be in a good trajectory. As for his name response try not to over test him, if you start calling him for no reason (i.e. just to see if he turns around) he will very soon start ignoring you, only ever call him if there is a legitimate reason for calling him.