18 month old pointing

[Leopold181]

Hi everyone, I’m a first time mum to a beautiful 18 month old who is the light of my life. She’s such a happy, beautiful, smart little girl. She’s chats a storm (real words and babble) and just recently started walking but she doesn’t point at things of interest very much. When she was 12 months she was pointing at everything and saying what’s that. Now she may point once a day and doesn’t look back at us to see if we are looking at (think I’ve seen her do it 4 times) what she is pointing at. She will point and verbalise (babble). It has me very worried, even though she’s is a very social little girl.

So I guess my question is how often do your little ones point and if so do they always look back. I work with autistic people so I know the type of struggle she will have and it’s sending me a little crazy... If she did have autism of course it wouldn’t matter but I’ve got it into my head that she might because she doesn’t point and I’m not getting her the help she may need.

Thank you!

If you are worried about ASD, the m-chat test is a good way to find out what her risk might be

Did she show you items of interest when she was younger? so either hold them up to show you or give them to you? if she is pointing to request and share (even if just once a day) she would be passing the pointing questions on the mchat. It is rare for toddlers with autism to be pointing at all by 18M.

@AladdinMum the pointing aspect of communication being rare , how rare would it be, and is it also the case with children who were formerly recognised as Aspergers even the milder side of Aspergers?

@Arhumuk it is very rare for toddlers that are showing multiple signs of autism to be pointing both to request and share by 18M. In the very vast majority of cases where parents have confirmed that their child was pointing by 18M and then later diagnosed with autism tend to be cases where the child was developing normally and then had a regression at around 24M of age (sometimes referred to as the 'onset of autism') where they loose many skills including pointing. This type of autism that emerges later after showing little to no signs of autism (i.e. they pass the MCHAT) prior to 24M tends to happen through a regression at around 24-30M of age, after 36M of age regressions are very rare. Aspergers tends to be no different - while they many not show any deficits in language, awareness and cognitive ability, social communication and other deficits will be present from very early ages (prior to 24M), after 24M autism tends to be more difficult to see in children with Aspergers as they tend to start masking, learning and compensating to 'fit in' (i.e. they start to point by seeing others point) when compared to children with other forms of autism (including high functioning autism). Because of this, parent concerns tend to drop off at this age only to re-emerge once the child starts school and social interactions and expectations increase.

@AladdinMummany thanks for your response. For the past month my son has started to describe things beyond just pointing and labelling.

This morning he was watching the bin men as they drove off he said "truck gone"

So he is now describing situations I assume this is pure social communication ie beyond his immediate needs

Also tells me when his teeth hurt, by saying ouchy teeth and pointing to his teeth to show me

@Arhumuk yes, if you are in the room interacting with him and he directs those verbal communications towards you then it is certainly examples of him sharing interests/concerns. Do note that at this age toddlers will also vocalise and narrate lots and lots of their thoughts, a bit like thinking out aloud, so without any communicative intent which is totally normal.

Well he pointed at the truck when it was in the street then looked at me saying truck. But the statement "truck gone" I'm not sure whether he was directing that to me as he was looking out of the window at the time when it was moving away.

As for the ouchy comment that was directed at me because he came to tell me and looked at me when he was saying it.

he shows me thing on average at least once a day by pointing at them and looking at me . For example yesterday pointed at his toy duck and then turned to look at me smiled said "duck" then looked back. also a drawing of a circle he did on the white board, pointed said circle looking at me then gestured the shape with his finger.

But the talking to himself is very often, that's why sometimes im not sure if he's talking to me or vocalising his thoughts

It all sounds very typical and very positive :)

Have to say I disagree on the pointing thing - ie that it's rare for a child with ASD to be pointing before 18 months.

My DS is 4, and he seems absolutely typical in many ways, and developmentally has no delays, but I have to say I have my doubts as to whether he is 100% neurotypical and if he was diagnosed with a form of high functioning ASD later in life, it wouldn't be a complete surprise! He was pointing at everything from 13 months.

No one is 100% neurotypical, many autistic like quirks and behaviors can be thrown into the mixture and it won't make you autistic (when using the diagnostic criteria). If your son has no delays and hence meeting all milestones, I assume he has no struggles and as you said 'in many ways absolutely typical' why would you think that he could be diagnosed with autism in later life?

Just because he doesn't have any big struggles now, as a 4 year old, doesn't mean he won't struggle in a few years time when demands increase. You only have to read the SN board to read of children starting to fall apart in primary school, or older, where the gap starts to widen between them and their peers. Or children being labelled as "naughty" but later being diagnosed with ASD.

I'm not saying he does have ASD as obviously I don't know, I am no paediatrician or panel of professionals. But I think a mother's instinct can mean something. My DS is quirky that's for sure!

Back to your question OP.. I think your little girl sounds sociable and chatty. I'm wondering if she's pointing less as her language is good. She certainly doesn't sound delayed with speech and language. It sounds like she's had a developmental leap recently with her starting to walk so the focus will be with this new skill.

Try a few games to bring about pointing.. like can you find mummy the flower, being silly works well 'mummy can't see the flower I wonder where it could be' when it's obvious and DS will likely to engage.

Hi x
how’s your little one now please ? X