No pointing yet

[youareasyoungasyoufeel]

I've not really seen my 19 month old boy pointing yet. He's an only child so far. If he wants something he takes me by the hand and leads me to it. He is forever pulling me along with him. He babbles loads but no recogniseable words but I'm not concerned about that as his cousin was late talking and his uncle so it might be a genetic thing but do I worry about the pointing or not?

The language is not concerning, but the lack of pointing together with the hand leading can be (please see my previous posts about healthy vs concerning hand leading). Not pointing to share interests (like a plane in the sky) by 18M is considered late, by 24M it should be investigated further.

Thanks. Anyone else?

My DS didn't point until 28 months, he had a severe speech and language delay.

How is he doing now?

Good, but probably still a bit behind other children the same age - for a long time it looked like autism but eventually that was ruled out and speech therapy and 1-1 nursery support helped him progress.

How is your son's understanding and interaction?

So how old is he now about 3 years? Is he noticeably behind like it's an issue or is he ok?

I think he understands most of what I'm saying. If I say no he understand and he responds well to his name. If I ask him to bring me his shoes he will. And just generally I feel as if he understands me.

Interaction is great with me and daddy. He loves playing and laughing with us but is fine on his own too. At baby groups and softplay he does do his own thing but I see him watching the other children too

thats good if his understanding is okay and he interacts well

Yes everything seems fine and my family all tell me to stop worrying it's just purely as I e heard not pointing at this age can be a worry

i 'think' from what i've read its a so called red flag for autism, but not all late talkers have autism.

That's what I've read and the not talking isn't my worry it's the no pointing

Pointing / gestures is a stepping stone on the way to talking,
not understanding/not interacting would be more concerning - and he's only 19 months. My LO's understanding was just as delayed as his speech.

There is a checklist on the teachmetotalk website of all these stepping stones that toddlers go through on the way to speech btw.

My DS's first word was just before his 3rd birthday btw.

Ok so if your son didn't say much until almost 3 then it's possible he didn't point until 2.5? So in which case my son might be the same and no major issues. Is that the gist of what your saying?

I'm not sure what you mean by major issues, speech and understanding has been a long difficult path for my DS but if your son has understanding of words then he could well be ahead of where my son was at that age, lots of children have speech delay - and being late to point probably goes along with being late to talk.

If you worried then your GP / HV is probably your first port of call.

@AladdinMum is really knowledgable about all this

Speech/language understanding

So pointing needs to come before talking

Does your child look if you point ?

There is a very strong correlation between pointing and expressive language - 'word explosions' tend to happen a few months after a child starts pointing to request and to share interests. Pointing is a critical milestone and while not pointing by 18M will always carry autism concerns there are always exceptions, i.e. for excample Mummy0ftwo12 son, or children that start pointing at at 19 or 20M or later and develop normally. Like the previous poster suggested, does he follow your point? that is normally a precursor to them pointing.

I don't really point much as I don't need to....

urm, yes I would have though so but that is because we vocalize instead of point, children as they get older and as they acquire more complex language will gradually start pointing less and less just as adults do, but that is just obvious and natural progression - at 18M the typical toddler points over 50 times a day, I don't imagine an adult doing that. Children prior to 2Y mainly use gestures to communicate - pointing before 2Y also demonstrates 'theory of mind' which is a concept that young children with autism tend to struggle with.

... and following a point or pointing is not a learned skill. If you never point to anything and a child never sees anyone point before, they will still start pointing by themselves by 18M to request and to share interests, and a few months before then, if you point to something for the first time they will usually follow your point (and not just look at your hand) - pointing is not a learned skill, it is an intrinsic skill.

So what's your point? He's a bit late clearly but he will catch up

Yes, I am sure he will be - you said that you were worried about him not pointing, carolina21 made a very good comment on how to check to see if pointing is about to emerge, by testing to see if they follow a point, its a widely used test in pediatric offices (i.e. following a point precedes pointing). My aim was only to dispel some misconceptions about pointing in case readers in the future read this or similar posts. People tend to think that a child is not pointing or not following a point only because they themselves as parents have not pointed and hence not modeled the action, this is totally not true. It is true for clapping and waving but not for pointing.

I didn't realise it was a learnt behaviour for clapping and waving, but if a child is delayed in speech and language which goes hand in hand with social communication/interaction delay I suspect they would be delayed in clapping and waving, DS was.

But OP if your child has understanding and follows a point i don't think at 19 months you have to much to worry about, if there was a serious concern then i think there would be other signs. My DS spent 10 minutes repeatedly opening and closing the GP's cupboard door which got us our paed referral pretty quickly!

My son is still behind but can now speak in sentences and be mostly understood but it was a big worry for me until very recently.

@Mummy0ftwo12 yes, clapping and waving are considered learned skills. In certain cultures (like in some parts of Asia) where waving and clapping (and pointing) is not as prevalent as in other parts of the world, children don't start clapping or waving until much later into childhood, however, they still go on to point between 12-18M of age. P.S. By clapping I don't mean banging two blocks together or similar actions (as those are development milestones linked to motor skills) but to children clapping to demonstrate achievement or success.

@youareasyoungasyoufeel Just wondering during how your LO got along with his pointing? I have similar concerns for my LO