Signs of ASD in 2.4yo?

[mistressploppy]

My DNephew has a very sing-song voice and most of his speech is echolalic; he repeats much of what's said to him, and uses questions as his answers, always refers to himself in the third person ie if he wants a drink he'll say 'Jakey want a drink??'

I'm generally of the impression that this is part of normal development, especially as he's so young, but wondered what others thought? I don't see him that regularly, so haven't really been able to see him play much etc, but I don't think he has any other behaviours that cause concern (have been googling )

Sorry if ANYTHING I've said is ignorant, I have no experience of this sort of thing

(also posted in SEN)

Why are you thinking ASD? Are his parents concerned?

My eldest was diagnosed with autism at 2 and a half. He was non verbal, no eye contact, compulsive behaviour, aggression, etc. My youngest was diagnosed after he was 3. He was totally echolalic, passive, had eye contact as a baby but lost it. The spectrum is just so massive and everyone is different.

A diagnosis of autism relies on the triad of impairments - have you googled that? If not, have a good read of it.

The assessment process is long and involved. If there's nothing, then he won't be diagnosed. It is more likely that people are not diagnosed when they ought to be than they are when they shouldn't be! So if the professionals are thinking autism, then they're probably right.

based just on what you have said, there may or may not be cause for concern and obvious only the medical professionals can diagnose, rather than internet sprites.. In my completely amateur opinion, the repeating what's been said is a normal part of early language development, the fact that he uses questions as answers etc is potentially more concerning that there is something disordered in the way he is acquiring language, particularly if the only times he speaks at sentence length are echolalia and at other times he is unable to say simple two word phrases. As Hecate says, it's not easy or quick to get a diagnosis, and doctors are v happy, if there is a shade of a doubt NOT to diagnose. Also the asd diagnosis procedure is all about seeing how a child communicates and plays, and taking a developmental history - they probably wouldn't even bother doing any blood tests, so there is nothing that would be painful or upsetting to a young child in undergoing a diagnostic assessment that proves unnecessary.