12 month old not waving pointing clapping or talking is this normal??

[Hannahmc12]

My son is 12 months old didn't talk or dosnt point, clap or wave I'm started to get worried as I'm seeing so many of my families babies doing all of these at such a younger age and I'm beginning to worry that this could be a early sign of autism as the HV seemed concerned at the fact he wasn't doing this or bringing toys to me or banging toys together but he's been walking since 10 months crawling since 5 months he can grab the animal when I'm saying where is the... pig turns book pages I don't know am I worrying too much I just wondered if anyone else's little one also didn't so these things at my ones age?

Has your HV referred your little boy for assessment? Do you think his hearing is ok?

My son is autistic and I would say that you are worrying a bit at the moment, and it really is too early to say at 12 months.

He is obviously processing language, understanding what you say. Does he babble at all? Strings of sounds? Copy any sounds like ba ba? He can obviously grab things and turn pages, showing good motor skills.

For comparison, my son only responded to questions like ‘where is the ... ‘ at age 4/5 years, and only after much practice. He couldn’t use a spoon until 5.

Honestly I think enjoy your son and have fun. It goes so so quick. Revisit this when he is 2 years old, and if he’s still not pointing then go to your GP. 2 years is really the earliest, as before then there is a lot of variation in language and pointing.

So my HV said if he's not talking in the next 2 months she's going to refer him to a audiologist as she seemed worried but I don't want to over panic as right now I am just burning myself out over thinking that it's my fault I'm not reading enough or singing enough my husband is always telling me not to worry but I also suffer with anxiety and my brain just dosnt stop worrying so I just had to ask 27Rejoiningperson thank you so much for this comment really appreciate it so much he dosnt copy us at all we constantly try to do nana or baba or dada but he does occasionally babble but then stops and dosnt do it again for a few days bless him

The best thing you can do is to be more responsive to him. As in, don’t try and ‘fill him’ with language, don’t be doing loads of saying nana or baba. Don’t be reading constantly or singing enough. Probably the best thing that you can do is ask the HV to also help with your anxiety - refer you if she can or you can do online cognitive behaviour therapy or use some excellent apps.

Honestly I wouldn’t say that he has big red flags. I’m saying that as someone who is very, very aware of all the signs of autism.

It’s a good idea to get him checked by an audiologist, however again, he’s grabbing the right animal so he is picking up language. He’s hearing and processing speech (which always comes before spoken speech).

I’m not saying that he’s definitely not autistic, it’s really too early. But his signs are not so clearly pointing to autism yet.

IF he is autistic, then responding is better than ‘pushing and speaking over’ them. There is a lot of evidence that what can massively help in the early years is being responsive and giving your baby & toddler lots of time and patience. If THEY babble, respond. If THEY pick up a car, say ‘brrrmmm’, if THEY look at a teddy, say ‘TEDDY’. Do loads and loads of proverbal play - take the pressure off language - tickling, to and fro games. These are good whether your child is autistic or not for language.

IF you are interested, look up the Hanen programme - for any child (autistic or not) with delayed speech or pointing. This is excellent. But in essence it is, again, what they call OWL.

Observe - what is the child doing, playing with?
Wait - don’t just take over, engage WITH what your child is already doing. Fun little claps if he likes it. Anything he likes or is already doing.
Listen - what sounds is your child making? Respond and expand. If he is just making ‘aaaa’ then model this back in a playful way.

This is the opposite of what is pushed by Health Visitors but is more effective if language is delayed for any reason.

And just to say, I know it’s a very remote possibility that your child is autistic. However after the shock, it is still the same gorgeous lovely child. My son is absolutely fantastic, he has struggles for sure, but can also do amazing things that most other children can’t do!

12m is still v early for speech.

Lots of good advice above OP.

Thank you so much honestly that post has really helped I'm now looking at it in a completely different way and from now on I will be playing in a completely different way and just letting him go at his own space and just conitue as we are you are so right thank you so much for your tip and sharing your story with me it has helped so much I feel so much better now 😊😊

Talking at 12 months? That's quite early. So I would not worry as few babies meet this milestone early. I think like others said, he is processing language. He also crawled and walked fairly early so may be he channeled his brain there first?
Please don't worry too much

My DS started talking/pointing/clapping etc around 14/15 mo. I’ve still got a detailed list on my phone of exactly what he did when because I was starting to worry!

He was developmentally slightly slower than some of his peers through the toddler years, but did fine on the HV assessments. Co-ordination still isn’t his strongest skill, and he’s had a couple of speech and language assessments at school (but never needed any further intervention) - nothing particularly significant. He’s 7 now and a very normal kid!

Does he watch any baby programs on TV? Put him down in front of something interactive like Word Party or Little Baby Bum’s Learning songs. If he dances along or seems to copy then it’s a good sign.

Cbeebies baby club is good too.

@Hannahmc12

My son is 12 months old didn't talk or dosnt point, clap or wave I'm started to get worried as I'm seeing so many of my families babies doing all of these at such a younger age and I'm beginning to worry that this could be a early sign of autism as the HV seemed concerned at the fact he wasn't doing this or bringing toys to me or banging toys together but he's been walking since 10 months crawling since 5 months he can grab the animal when I'm saying where is the... pig turns book pages I don't know am I worrying too much I just wondered if anyone else's little one also didn't so these things at my ones age?

My little boy started waving at 16 months, has only started waving now at 17 months and no pointing yet.

Sorry clapping at 16 months and it's all he does now, everything is worth a clap apparently.

Very early to be talking tbh op.
My LO is 2.5years and just been referred now for speech.
Very early to be looking for flags and tbh nothing stands out to me. I know it’s so much easier to worry but please don’t stress.
Getting his hearing tested is a great start.

All children are different - my twins are both autistic - one did copy things like clapping, making sounds and just stopped very suddenly. Neither of them ever pointed, and one never clapped or copied anything. Never any shared attention (they never brought things to show us etc). They did interact with each other and us but that stopped when they were about 18 months old.

If your HV is concerned I would ask for a referral to a paediatrician as this takes absolutely ages - if things improve while you’re waiting you can always cancel.

He's only 12 months. Don't worry too much. My son is 22 months and doesn't say lots of words but does say some.

They all learn at different stages so don't get too worked up on it.

@orangejuicer

Cbeebies baby club is good too.

Yes I second this! Especially the touch your nose song. My son learnt to clap and where his nose was from this song.

I'm the same age as my cousin, so we developed together. I talked very early, but was really slow to walk (too busy talking rubbish). My cousin walked by nine months, but didn't talk at all until she was two and a half! She did understand when people asked her to do things though, but just didn't actually talk until she was ready.
Neither of us are autistic or anything else, and can now both walk and talk perfectly well!

If your child copies things like Baby Club etc then I wouldn’t be too concerned. My twins never did - no copying of song actions, etc. Even now at 4.5 very little copying happens and that’s with a lot of effort put in - have a look at intensive interaction and give that a go if you have concerns about lack of mimicking (essentially you copy them first until they realise you’re doing what they do- helps to encourage copying, which is early communication)

Hi! I'm going through the same right now. Mind me asking, how is your son now?

@Hannahmc12 how is your little one doing now? Your little one sounds like mine so just curious to see how you’re doing ☺️

@Hannahmc12 @Boymama123 how are your little ones now?

@Mumof3bb1 my son is nearly 2, has lots of gestures now but no speech at all, other than some very simple babbling, which is up and down. He definitely is presenting with some autistic traits but is the happiest, most social little man in the world! xx

Hi @Hannahmc12 was just wondering if we can have an update 😊 xx

@Alice4417 what concerns do you have? My son has just turned 11 months and we had a good whole month of good babbling constantly through the day, and good mimicking but the past two days he’s been so much quieter which is worrying me.

Just the not pointing really. My boy can wave confidently, and knows when you go to a door people say bye so waves without prompting. He can clap but very rarely does so but doesn't point. Goes through phases of being quiet with babbling.