2.5 year old speech delay possible ASD

[AllyBallyBee123]

Hi all

I'd appreciate any shared experiences/thoughts and general moral support if possible.

My 2.5 year old DD has speech delay. She does have single words but spends a lot of her day babbling/making noise. She uses approx 20 single words daily but is capable of saying more. She has a few set phrases which she uses in context such as "stop it" "tea time" "oh no" but primarily single words.

My suspicions of ASD are due to;

• Lack of pointing for what she wants
• No pointing to share interest
• No imaginative play
• Often seems in her own little world

She has however significantly improved her eye contact and joint attention over the last 4 weeks. She is smiley, affectionate and loves cuddles. She is also now starting to lead me by the hand to what she wants which she previously never did at all.

Understanding - she can follow commands on her own terms, ie she wont get her shoes but would happily get her teddy or bubbles if I asked her to. She understands tea/bath/bed time and let's go for a walk/in the car etc. She has also started to approach me for help, such as bringing my makeup bag to me for me to open it, or help opening a snack.

What complicates things is that she has poor vision (longsighted) and has been wearing glasses for the past 2 weeks. Shes also been found to have glue ear but wouldnt really engage with the actual hearing component of the test so we dont really know how affected her hearing is. She has another audiology review in 3 months.

Overall, I do see progress in her social communication (eye contact, joint attention, engagement) but we seem to be stuck with speech.

Does anyone have any similar stories where there has been a positive outcome? I have the "it takes two to talk" book and feel like I'm trying all the SLT techniques. It's so emotionally draining seeing other kids chat away.

Thanks for reading x

I should add she never has any tantrums and is always a happy little soul. She also has no issues with changes in routine and no rigidity. She does flap her hands when excited and put objects in her mouth.

Hi, I haven’t had an official diagnosis so I’m sorry I can’t be off much help. Didn’t want to read and not comment
You’ve described my daughter apart from the speaking as she doesn’t say anything. She’s three
Wishing you all the best

Have you tried the m chat assessment?

I would say that the vision and glue ear might be the reason for some of what you are concerned about rather than ASD.

Sounds very similar to my dd- she’s 3.5 now, and likely does have ASD according to our private SLT.

HOWEVER it’s grand. Her language skills are really coming on, her sleep is great and she was an absolute dream to potty train first time at 3 despite only using single words. She used to be terrible for putting everything in her mouth, but has really grown out of this over the last year or so.

She’s still a happy little girl, and she’s starting to develop her own interests in musical instruments. I’ve gone from being a ball of anxiety about her future to being pretty certain everything’s going to turn out ok. I’m lucky, I have a few colleagues who had toddlers with significant speech and language delays and diagnosed with ASD who are now thriving academically and socially in mainstream primary, so it’s less daunting when you see that it is possible!

Look after yourself, it’s not an easy time when you’ve realised that your kid isn’t quite typical and the uncertainty that comes with it. She sounds like she’s developed some skills well, has some understanding and uses day to day objects appropriately (your make up bag!) and I’d be really encouraged by that.

I’d recommend this book about growing up as a girl with autism- it’s written for teenagers, but DH has found it really useful to read something that wasn’t all doom and gloom!

Hi @AllyBallyBee123
Just thought I’d comment because I have a daughter who sounds very similar and she is diagnosed ASD. She doesn’t have hearing issues though and of course your dd may not be autistic.
We find that our dd learns well and can understand more when visuals are used, so we show her pictures of everything. If you Google now and next board this can be good.
It’s also a bit controversial but my daughter has made great progress with ABA therapy, it’s really helped with her play and her understanding of instructions and routines.
Hope this helps.