Not pointing | Mumsnet

Landladymews · 2020-10-19T09:20:16+00:00

Hi Did anyone have this in isolation as a marker for autism? My son won’t point at 18 months. Other than that he shares attention by giving me things, has good eye contact, is interested in people but he just won’t point and his receptive language is behind where it should be. If he wants something he will stand near it and cry.

essexmum777 · 19/10/2020 22:27

do you mean did anyone have this at 18 months and was the only indicator of autism? a receptive language delay can also be a marker of autism i think.

My son didn't point at 18 months and was thought to have classic autism up until his formal ADOS/MDA (multi disciplinary assessment for autism), his receptive language was delayed and he spent a long time in the 'enveloping stage' so i guess it wasn't just not pointing in isolation, he didn't have autism btw. My daughter pointed just once at 16 months and that was to show interest, never to request - she did the open hand grabby thing to request and was totally NT.

18 months is really young though and Dr Google always seems to indicate autism rather than any other reason for speech & language delay.

essexmum777 · 19/10/2020 22:30

Oh and I don't think its that your ds won't point btw, more that he can't - pointing is an innate thing that develops as a pre-cursor to speech, along with other pre-verbal skills, he probably just isn't there yet.

AladdinMum · 19/10/2020 22:51

No, there is no single marker for autism - pointing or lack off can be a strong predictor but it's not definite. The risk increases the further a child does not point (to show interests) after 18M, however, many children would have pointed as late as 20M and be totally NT. Autism is a social communication disorder and if present will impair much more than just pointing - if you have a look at the MCHAT it will highlight some of these areas.

Original poster

Landladymews · 20/10/2020 22:26

So interestingly my son pointed a lot today after I had started pointing myself for the last day to two. I gave him the option of a plate of food or a beaker of water and he told me what he wanted. Later on he dropped his spoon and was pointing at it. He also pointed when a lady came into the doctors surgery waiting room. Phew!

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Original poster

Landladymews · 20/10/2020 22:35

@essexmum777 Interesting! Could you explain what you mean by the enveloping stage? I assume your son is now ok despite the receptive language delay?

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CP2701 · 20/10/2020 23:00

My daughter showed no signs of pointing... Literally the day she turned 18 months, she pointed. And then pointed at everything! 😂 She's 20 months now, still pointing at everything!

Original poster

Landladymews · 20/10/2020 23:02

@CP2701 Amazing! I don’t know if it worried you like it did me, but it’s so great when they finally start to do it! I only needed to do it a few times for him to pick it up. I guess he’s never seen anyone point before as it’s not something we ever really feel the need to do.

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CP2701 · 20/10/2020 23:07

Pointing is instinctive to them, even if they never see anyone point, a NT child would still do it naturally.

I was really worried about it, my partner even more so. Her understanding is very good! She still doesn't say much but knows every animal sound known to man. She knows lots of words and will use them a couple of times and then just not again for ages.

She points to everything and anything that interests her now though, I'm glad. And she can point at things in books if I ask her where things are etc.

Such a relief! I now feel confident her talking will come.

Original poster

Landladymews · 20/10/2020 23:12

That’s great. My little one isn’t there with the understanding yet but the pointing stuff was worrying me a lot because of the strong association with autism. Now that’s out of the way I can just focus on comprehension

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essexmum777 · 21/10/2020 08:55

My ds was equally delayed in receptive language/comprehension but he is fine now, it took about 6 months from when he pointed for the first words to come.

Original poster

Landladymews · 21/10/2020 09:08

@essexmum777 That’s pretty reassuring to hear. Everything I read online from people with kids who had receptive language delays suggests that they were either diagnosed with something or never really caught up in the long run. I feel like there is some hope after what you have said!

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CP2701 · 21/10/2020 09:38

Her understanding was not good around 16 months, I was really worried. We basically stopped ALL screen time, and we played with her constantly. It made a massive difference. She went from hardly knowing much to really good understanding. Maybe she would have just caught up anyway but she's definitely on the right track now. We sang lots of nursery rhymes etc
I'm sure you are doing all of this already but the screen time was a big game changer. She would get so immersed in the TV she wouldn't take anything in around her.

Original poster

Landladymews · 21/10/2020 09:49

@CP2701 how long did it take once you started to focus to see changes? we don’t really have too much screen time. Have the news on for half an hour or so every few days which he will watch for maybe 10 mins and cartoons maybe once or twice a week for half an hour. What we haven’t been doing is playing a lot with him as I have a small baby to look after too. I’m now turning my attention towards talking and playing more with him which will hopefully help.

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CP2701 · 21/10/2020 09:55

We saw differences within about a month. We basically played with her a lot and named everything. Speech and language told me some children need to hear a word repeated about a hundred times before they know it, so I went mad on the naming! 😂 If we were going out, I'd say 'shoes' so many times as I was putting them on her. These are your shoes, we are putting your shoes on, etc. Then after a few days, I'd say go get your shoes and she would come running back with them. She needed loads of repitition though. She's picking things up a lot more quickly now thankfully.

I took her for lots of walks and just pointed at everything constantly to name things. There's the dog, those are the trees etc. Here comes a car. I was like a human narrator! 😂 But it seemed to have made a big difference to her.

Enian · 28/08/2022 13:10

Thank you for this lovely group.
I am so concerned about my son.
He is nearly 14 months old and still not pointing and waving.
I try to model it to him but he seems he can’t concentrate and go on to do other things.
He smiles all the time and is social not all the time but most of the time.
He doesnt take any commands yet.
He started to say mama dada since he was 6 months old and he stops from time to time and starts again.
I have no idea what’s going on with him.
He started to walk very early 9 months old.
I call his name so many times and he doesn’t seem bothered.

Claire123e · 02/10/2024 08:55

Landladymews · 21/10/2020 09:49

@CP2701 how long did it take once you started to focus to see changes? we don’t really have too much screen time. Have the news on for half an hour or so every few days which he will watch for maybe 10 mins and cartoons maybe once or twice a week for half an hour. What we haven’t been doing is playing a lot with him as I have a small baby to look after too. I’m now turning my attention towards talking and playing more with him which will hopefully help.

Hi any updates please ?