My 2.5 year old is behind with his speech. He says multiple single words within context, but also still slightly babbles or say things i dont always understand. He uses gestures to communicate and his interaction and imitation skills seems to be good. Only issue i am having is his receptive skills. I feel like he understands more than he lets on but i am not sure. I will ask him to do something and he will ignore me sometimes or other times he will do what i am asking him to do.
For example for these past two nights every time i ask him to tidy up his toys he will happily do it, but last night i asked multiple times and he ignored me and wouldnt do it. Same applies to when i am calling his name, sometimes he will look when i call him , other times he doesnt. If i raise my voice and call his name louder after ive called him mulitple times and he will end up finally looking at me , sometimes with a grin , its like he understands i am frustrated at that point . For example during a nappy change once i asked him mulitple times to stand up and he wouldnt then i raised my voice saying STAND UP and he finally stood. Yesterday for example i kept on asking him to go to bed for example ( not his real name ) but i said ' Tony please go to bed ' said this atleast 3 or 4 times he continued to ignore me and kept on playing then i finally shouted 'TONY LETS GO TO BED' and he immediately got up and ran into his room with a smile on his face.
I guess i am just concerned if this is 'normal' toddler behavior. I am not sure if i just have a defiant stubborn toddler or if there is something more. I am trying to get him into speech therapy but it has crossed my mind a few times if theres any potential ASD concerns i should have. I guess no one really knows but just wanted to know if anyone has had a similar experience with their toddler or can offer any kind of advice.