Hi everyone,
I'm reaching out to see if anyone else has had similar experiences or can offer some advice. My son is 20 months old, and I’m feeling really anxious about his development, especially regarding his receptive language and some other behaviors.
He currently has about 50 words, which he uses mostly in context, although sometimes he’ll mix things up (like calling milk "water"). He says these words constantly throughout the day, even when the objects aren’t in sight. A lot of his vocabulary seems to have come from watching Ms. Rachel on TV, although he has also picked up some words from me. I do speak to him a lot. However, he struggles to follow simple directions like “come here” or “sit down.” He does make eye contact, but it’s not very consistent. When I get down to his level to talk to him, he often avoids eye contact, but I’ve noticed that when we’re around someone new, he will look at me to gauge my reaction. He also looks at me when he wants me to see something or if I do something that is of interest to him. He doesn’t point to show interest in things, but we’ve been working on pointing to objects nearby. He’s starting to point when I ask him to identify things, like pointing to a banana if I ask where it is, or pointing to choose between snack options. Responding to His Name This is hit or miss—he responds to his name about 50% of the time. He loves playing peekaboo and will even initiate it himself. He’s very clingy and needs to have me in sight almost all the time. He used to have extreme stranger anxiety, but that seems to be getting a little better now. He hand-flaps when he’s excited and claps his hands a lot randomly. He also just started walking on his toes recently, although he only does this sometimes—he mostly walks normally.
We started speech therapy when he was 18 months old, but the therapist decided to stop after he had about 10 words, saying she didn’t see a need to continue. I’m just so worried that some of these behaviors could be signs of ASD.
Has anyone been through something similar? Any advice or experiences you could share would be really appreciated. I’m feeling so lost and concerned right now.
Thank you so much in advance for your help.