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22-month-old not pointing and clapping

20 replies

MumTS · 25/01/2024 00:01

My 22-month-old boy was born premature (31 weeks). I am extremely worried about his developmental delay. I am posting to see if anyone is in the same boat. He learned to point at things with one finger when he was 19 months old. He did pointing for two weeks and never did afterward. He otherwise uses his index finger on books with texture and sometimes on the glass door of the microwave oven. I tried to teach him to clap a lot but never clapped. He waves and high-fives occasionally when he wishes (maybe once a week or two weeks). He is nonverbal. Recently started to copy words we say such as cat, fish, shark, ABC, one, two, three, etc). However, he does not know the meaning of these words. Just repeats when we say. Only understands one command which is 'NO'. He stops when we say No. He was not responding to his names until recently. Recently he responds to his name 50% of the time. In some instances comes running from another room if we call by his name. His hearing is checked. Hearing is fine. I have not noticed any sensory intolerance in him. Used to flap hands too much which has reduced recently. Now, flaps sometimes (maybe once or twice a day, previously it was all the day in between play). Does not line up toys or has no obsession with anything as such. No tantrum at all. Good sleeper. Excellent eye contact. Likes to copy us such as brushing teeth, and combing hair when we do. He knows where things belong in the household. If he sees his biscuit container on the floor, he would keep that on the tabletop where it generally belongs. Cannot stack blocks yet or sort shapes on a board. But can insert a ball on the whole, can pour water from the bathtub to the bathroom floor by a mug. He can draw lines on walls or on a piece of paper. No issue with gross motor skills. His pediatrician had a telephone conversation with me and said, she believes that the baby could have autism but does not want to diagnose now. Too worried. Does anyone have any similar story or insight on this?

OP posts:
CadyEastman · 25/01/2024 07:29

So you've had an appointment with a Paediatrician? Did they say when they'll see DS again?

Are you in the UK @MumTS? If so, I'd ask your HV for referrals to SLT, Portage and Occupational Therapy.

Have a look at the SN section on MN too. It's usually very supportive Flowers

MumTS · 25/01/2024 08:18

No, not in the UK. Yes, trying to get into therapy but wait is too long. Ped will see baby in May face to face. Not sure if seeing face to face will change anything

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angpat · 25/01/2024 08:31

Am I correct though in thinking his development milestones will be as per correct age - so if he was born at 31 weeks you would judge his developmental milestones currently as what’s normal for a 13/14 month old ?

MumTS · 25/01/2024 08:46

His corrected age is 20 months. Real age is 22 months. Still delayed for the corrected age

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angpat · 25/01/2024 10:02

Why only 2 months difference when he was born at 31 weeks ?

MumTS · 25/01/2024 11:19

That’s what the doctors said

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MumTS · 25/01/2024 11:22

Hi angpat! How did you count? Am I missing something? 40 weeks is normal pregnancy right? So that’s 9 weeks from 31 weeks equal to 2 months right?

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angpat · 25/01/2024 11:37

Yes you are completely right sorry!!

angpat · 25/01/2024 11:38

Sorry meant 9 weeks !!

CadyEastman · 25/01/2024 19:37

@angpat your maths is about as good as mine is usually Grin

Blinkdudette · 24/02/2024 17:59

Any updates on your post? Having similar

MumTS · 28/02/2024 04:21

Hi Blinkdudette, My boy says one word now. He says one, two three to mean that he wants to go out to play as his grandparents say it when he swings at the playground. He also said dady a few times over the last two weeks but in the last two days, I did not see him saying anything except babbling a lot. He shows strong separation anxiety nowadays when we drop him at daycare but after we leave, he calms down in 5 minutes. He has resumed pointing recently. I saw him pointing once or twice every day over the last week. He pointed something in my face. I could not understand what was he pointing at though. He also pointed towards doors to express that he wanted to go out. This morning, he pointed to a wall where sunlight fell from the window. However, not a lot of pointing (just once or twice a day, and still the meaning of the pointing is not always clear to me). We saw a pediatrician last week. The doctor thinks my boy is autistic because he is not interacting with the doctor. I told the doctor that it was his nap time. I showed the doctor pictures in which my boy was playing with other kids of his age holding hands and sharing toys but the doctor was not convinced. He also did not respond to his name in front of the doctor as he got hyper in a new environment and he was a bit unsettled as it was his nap time. So, the doctor said, he should be diagnosed for autism six months from now. I have started with a speech therapist. The speech therapist said, he does not look autistic and she finds it tricky to comment if he is autistic. The speech therapist said he has good non-verbal communication and he can express everything he wants. So, that is the update. How are you going with your little one?

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CadyEastman · 28/02/2024 07:22

I'm so sorry but I wouldn't hold too much store in what the SLT says. Both of mine have had SLT and the fact that my two DC are both ND was never picked up by them.

Blinkdudette · 04/03/2024 21:42

It’s so hard! Everyone has such different opinions. I think as a mum you know best! My son , I think it’s autistic but he’s only 22 months! I don’t think he will be talking for a long time . He only says Daddy and babbles alot ! He does point and reach for me when he wants to be picked up! Does line up toys but equally plays with cars in the correct way! He has no interest in other people really apart from in my house! Xx

Kiyentai · 05/03/2024 14:41

My son just turned 3. He also has speech and fine motor delays, and a texture aversion to hard foods (like crackers, chips ect). He didn't start clapping till after he was 2. He still doesn't point but he will reach or use his whole hand to show that he wants something. Autism has been thrown around but we have had him in OT and speech since beginning of last year and it has made a HUGE difference in his fine motor skills. We are still working on communicating but he just recently got a consistent schedule with speech, he knows "more" and "Open". He understands us and can follow commands, hes just not speaking consistently yet. Because of his progress the autism diagnosis has been put on hold. I will say he is a covid baby so he did not get all of that social interaction that he normally would have got the first year of his life. So I do think that does have something to do with it. If he is autistic I do think it's a milder side of the spectrum because he doesn't have a lot of the sensory stuff.

MumTS · 05/03/2024 23:07

Kiyentai, your story is inspiring. I do not think your child is autistic from what you wrote but that is just my personal opinion. The thing is there are so many factors involved in children's development. In my case, we changed our house and baby's daycare which unsettled him. My little one only again began behaving normally after I invited my parents to live with us. During the period when we moved into our new house and my parents arrived, my little one was always depressed, was not making eye contact, was spinning everything, and running all the time. Now, he has excellent eye contact and very good interaction with people around him. He responds to his name now almost all the time except when he is too busy with his favorite toys. If he now points consistently that will signal something good. But if not, that is fine. We do not need to worry too much about diagnosis I guess. Therapy is all important. I will begin with a new speech therapist in mid-March. The existing one is saying, she cannot help much unless my child grows receptive to language. I am hoping none of our kids turn out to be autistic but if they do, I hope it is mild and manageable. Lets focus on therapy now

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MumTS · 05/03/2024 23:16

Blinkdudette!
I saw a feeding and speech therapist yesterday and they said, we never know how much language knowledge our kids have at this age as they are always busy exploring the environment. So, you never know, your child may speak anytime. I was seeing a speech therapist at home who has an autistic daughter. The daughter had 5 words when she was 18 months old but now speaks in sentences (she is 2 and a half now). Maybe the mum is a speech therapist who helped her I would say, place yourself on the speech and Occupational therapist's waiting list. Their list is so long (almost 1 year waiting). Go private if no govt funding at this time. Our kids are still quite young. Even if they are autistic, I am sure that's not the end of the world. Many autistic people live with minimum support. I hope it will be all good. Keep me posted on your updates. I will do so too. By the way, sending them to daycare may help. My child learned the word 'Daddy' from daycare. At home, we used another word for calling daddy. One day, he returned from day care and began saying daddy and in a couple of days, he went to his daddy, held his hands and looked into his eyes, and said, 'daddy.' we were so surprised.

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Speechdelaymama · 11/03/2024 19:15

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Blinkdudette · 11/03/2024 21:19

@MumTS thank you! He does go to day care 3 days a week and has done for the past year! He has made some progress in the past week, he has brought me his bottle and said bot bot bot, he is trying to say ready steady go with his cars and counting 1,2,3! Still not saying mummy though! Although this is great, his social understanding is still hard work. When I took him to a tots tumble group today, will not wait his turn and having the biggest melt downs , stressful x

Needer8954 · 11/11/2024 08:26

@Blinkdudette @MumTS Hello some update?

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