Joint attention ????

[Raeleigh24]

What exactly is joint attention?

my 13 month old doesn’t point yet but I have been told it’s not considered late until 18 months so still have quite a bit of time .

but what other forms of joint attention should he be doing and what’s classed as joint attention.

when we reads books for example the Dear Zoo book he turns pages and open the flaps when it gets to the lion he pulls the flap down and looks at me everytime and wait for me to make lion noise.

he plays back and forth ball with me.

points to my eyes nose etc when I ask where is mummies nose

he likes feeding me some of his toast

when inncy wincy spider comes on the tv he always looks back at me then does the actions for it.

he follows my point when I point at something.

if I ask him where something is like his ball he will look directly at it and say ball.

is any of this classed as joint attention????

Yes, as he is including you into his play.
He sounds normal, typical toddler.

@Injackane

thanks for replying.

he’s now almost 15 months still not pointing as such will point to things in books and name them he vaguely pointed at some Christmas lights in the shop yesterday twice. still points out my nose eyes etc and his own nose head mouth now .

but does have tons more joint attention brings me things , chase me with his teddy snake , shows me his food by holding it up when he’s eating , looks back at me when he does something like stack his blocks and waits for me to clap or if he drops/chucks something he says uhhh ohh and looks at me lol

And he says about 14 different words and sounds most in context, just hope the pointing comes soon

He is very normal and typical. There is absolutely no reason to worry about. He plays with you, reads books with you, has good receptive language as he understands the body parts, he has good expressive language, too.

Honestly , if pointing is the only gesture lacking, there is nothing to worry about. All other boxes are checked.

This is coming from a mom with a 15m old son who doesn’t understand commands, has very poor expressive language, doesn’t point, doesn’t wave, loves spinning wheels, etc I’ve been investigating these stuff to give myself hope. I wish so much that I’m in your situation, I wouldn’t worry a bit.

I do try not to worry as he has so many positives

he too likes to spin wheels but not to the point it dominates his play , that was another worry of mine but I kept a close eye on it and he will tip things over to spin wheels but only for seconds at a time then move to something else but it’s still very much something he does a couple times throughout the day .. also been a bit of a hand flapper in the past again occasionally does it a couple times a day mainly when he’s waiting for his food or he’s excited again that’s something I’m keeping an eye on but like I said I really do try not to worry as he does have a lot of positives and very interactive/ he’s showing joint attention.

I hope you find the answers your looking for it’s so horrible watching them and worrying it really 💐