Worried about Speech Delay and autism

[Winnie1604]

Hi everyone. My son who turned two about two months ago is not talking yet. He has a few words, maybe 5-10 and I’ve noticed they all begin with vowels - up, one, all, eight.

He has a great understanding, can point to anything we say, follow instructions, makes great eye contact, interacts well with us, makes loads of noises and sounds, sings to himself in gibberish and babbles away (very vocal just not speaking!)

i am worried about autism as when he throws a tantrum (not very often and he is very easy to distract and stop) and is frustrated he bangs his head on the floor or wall. He sometimes walks on his tip toes (about 50% of the time). The speech delay as mentioned. He doesnt seem to have much interest in other kids, although he did just start at daycare this month so that might need more time. Would all of this signs mean autism?

Im a first time mum, an over worrier and just generally very stressed and worried about him so any insight or advice would be appreciated!

I wouldn’t say he definitley has autsim but I also wouldn’t be ruling it out.

What support/investigation do you have in place? This is what you need to focus on. Has he been referred to audiology for a hearing test (GP) can do this, speach and language referal (most areas you can self refer) and has his HV done his two years. Ask for meeting or phone call with the nursery SENCo and ask them for support.

@Lovegame thanks for your response!

we are based in Ireland but it seems to be similar to the UK. He had his two year check and the HV has referred him for SLT therapy but over here it can take up to year. I have a phone consultation with them at the end of the month while we wait for an in person appointment but I’m not sure how much help that will be without meeting him?

We haven’t done anything about checking his hearing, we’ve never suspected an issue there, he seems to hear fine?

Hearing test is always the first port of call for speech issues. My son has a speech delay and he needed grommets for glue ear.

The other things like tantrums- he is so little you can't really know yet. I'd start by going to the gp to get a hearing test.

He definitley needs a hearing test. You will need an in person appointment with GP so they can physically check the ears and they will refer to audiology. There are lots of potential hearing issues, including glue which is very common in children and is often improve with a tiny operation, literally takes minutes for both ears. Ear glue often gets better and worse depending on having a cold.

Hopefully the SaLT phone call will result in them triaging him so he is seen as priority. Can you afford private SaLT?

How was he at meeting his other mile stones.

It sounds like you’re potentially a Mum of a child with SEND (I’m basing this on his speech issue so this may not be the same case in 5 years) it’s can be a lonely place and you need to learn to push for all the support you can get.

Both my son and my friends son had speech delays. My DS suddenly started to talk around 28 months whereas my friends son (same age) still required SALT in reception. My DS was diagnosed with autism at 17 yrs old, my friends son is not autistic. So, at this stage, I’d not worry too much about autism and just focus on his speech. The fact that your ds has good understanding, points to things etc suggests autism may not be at play here. But, regardless, your boy will be just fine.