11 month old communication and gestures

[QueenOfTheMadhouse]

Hi, i am just wondering what the usual age is for communication to start to develop, my baby is 11 month old, so far he occasionally babbles baba dada nana, but to himself if you see what i mean, not meaningfully. He cant wave or point, he can clap but not to imitate, he just claps to himself sometimes. He cant say any words, although when he was 8 months he could say hiya and mum but he stopped saying that.

I'm just worried as my middle son had a speech disorder and is only just understandable now at the age of 5. Also I have a cousin with ASD.

Also my son never shows me anything, he cant play with anything yet, other than mouthing the objects and rolling them and he wont play peek-a-boo, patacake etc. He does not want to share books either.

So i guess what i am asking is, should i be concerned or just let him get on with it and develop in his own time? TIA

Hi, just thought i should add that he smiles, but he doesnt laugh, the only time he has ever laughed is when i have tickled him and thats a bit hit and miss, responds to his name about 2 times out of 10. He understands the word no.

He sat up early at 4 to 5 months, and walked at 9 and half months, so his physical development is great.

do you have the 12month check with the health visitor in your area?? i know my ds was seen at 13months and didnt pass the assessment (i'd had concerns a long time before) and i do remember on that assessment was pointing, waving, clapping ect

Hi, no he had a check last month and he passed everything apart from speech and language, he was 10 months at the time but he came up at 8 months for his language development. He is having no further monitoring.

He wont be seen now till he has his 2 year check up.

Thanks for your response.

What concerns did you have with your son if you dont mind me asking?

I have to say there would be a few things that might concern me there (knowing what I know now, as I have a ds with high functioning ASD) - the lack of shared attention, lack of gestures, and response to his name.

It is really hard at this kind of age because it could be fine, but it could also point to a possible problem. Looking back at my ds with hindsight (he is now almost 5) there was a lack of reciprocated and shared activities, and even though it was subtle, that more than anything was what niggled me. It is very hard though, esp if this is a first baby (it was in my case - if I'd had dd first I would have taken notice of the signs with ds much earlier).

Don't worry too much about the language development - that in itself doesn't have much bearing on ASD at this stage. It is more the non-verbal stuff that indicates any problems.

It is horrible to have this worry, I know exactly how you feel. But there is loads you can do to help improve his interaction and communication. There's a similar thread running atm (can't link but title is something about 4th baby and autism) which might be useful for you to look at. Also def worth looking through old threads on this board (try searching 'early signs of autism' or 'early intervention' maybe). It's a bit late tonight (bed beckons) but I'll try and come back tomorrow with a bit more info and I'm sure others will be along too.

Quite odd to have had a few words and then lost them. That's not usual. Bypass HV and go to the GP? If nothing else it's worth thinking about a hearing test even if only to have the result on record.

In the meanwhile you can see a speech and language therapists, some areas have self referral, others have occasional drop-in sessions or children centre SLT-led baby sing-bounce-rhyme-whatever.

i would bypass hv if they have already done the check 12months is a long time to wait for the next assessment.

my concerns with my ds as a baby was (off the top off my head) the loss of babbling, strange behaviours like head banging, he did a weird stroking/flicking of things that i have never seen a child do, lack of gestures, constant smiling and no preference over strangers or familiar adults. i will say my ds as no diagnosis they've said 12month delay in social/communication/imagination/play skills possibly secondary to language delay, it took ds till he was 2 and half to see community paed i wish i had been more forceful

My son does flap his arms, but i dont think thats unusual in babies, he also waves his arms side to side and rubs/whacks his belly while walking around or if i try to play with him. I may video it and show to health visitor.

Yes i will go to the GP and ask for a hearing test. He will prob be fine, My 5 year old DS was thought to maybe have an ASD but he has no diagnosis so maybe my youngest is just following in his brothers footsteps :) although my 5 year old was much more smiley as a baby, laughed and showed me what he wanted.

@QueenOfTheMadhouse
How is your son doing now?

Hi ttrii OP here under a different username these days! My DS that I was talking about in the op is just about to go to panel to receive an ASD diagnosis, it’s almost certain he has it, also my older son that I referred to in my posts now has an ASD diagnosis, he was diagnosed at around 7 or 8 years old, he’s 15 now. I also received an asd diagnosis in March. Been an eventful few years!
My DS that I started this thread about is now 10 years old, and is the kindest most loving little boy I know, he’s absolutely lovely. He does struggle a lot with social anxiety and social communucation.