Pointing

[angpat]

Has anyone had a child who has pointed to request and share interests by 18/19 months but still had a diagnosis of ASD?

Hello, from what I understand a diagnosis isn’t from one single thing but more that the features seen cover all three areas, so I am guessing yes they can still point and have autism as they could easily have other difficulties with social communication even if they can point effectively to share attention?

https://www.autismeducationtrust.org.uk/about/what-is-autism

My understanding is that a NT DC will start pointing at a very young age - around 9/10 months. Babies use pointing as a means of communicating pre language.
Before my DS was diagnosed with autism, I had no idea how important pointing was for a DC's development.

DC with autism do sometimes go on to point but again it can be at a later age. My DS did start pointing a bit but it certainly wasn't when typically developing children of his age were doing it.

The other thing with pointing is 'shared gaze'. It's not just about pointing to request or to show something they've seen. Do they look at the person as well?

Pointing is just one part of the whole picture though (although experts do believe a complete lack of pointing is one of the 'red flags'). Other things I was asked at DS's assessment were 'does he wave? Does he shake or nod his head? Does he bring things of interest to show you? Does he copy gestures such as clapping? At around 18/19months a NT DC would be doing most of these things.

I take it you've seen the M-Chat test? (It's an early screening indicator showing the kind of things to look out for in a DC of around 18 months.)

So my little one does all of the things listed above but probably more consistently when he was 20 months old (corrected) would this be considered late? When did your child start to point or do those gestures you mentioned ?He also points to share interest but doesn’t look back every time , are they meant to look back everytime they point ?

My DS is 14 now so it's hard to remember when he did some of these things!

Can I ask if there's a reason why you're concerned about your DC's development?

I think it can be quite difficult to diagnosis very young DC with autism as they can change and develop very quickly.

My DS went for an autism assessment at 4 and didn't meet the threshold for a diagnosis but he did at 9. Sometimes the 'subtle' signs become much more obvious over time - and the 'gap' between them and their peers becomes wider.

However, some DC do also reach their milestones at a slightly later date, so frustratingly, it can be a 'wait and see' thing.

My son with autism didn’t point until he was over the age of 3. And my NT son started pointing at 11 months old. The difference in both of them is wild to me. Even now at the age of almost 5 my son with ASD won’t point to show interest or anything, it’s just not something he’s ever really grasped.