worried about autism

[flic23]

Hi saw a thread about autism and it has me worried. My son is 15 months. Thing is he doesnt really talk he will say hiya and says DA which we assume is his version of ta. He knows his name and if i say where is dad he goes and looks out front door and can find is toy rabbit by being asked.

Thing is he does not point which has me spooked big time as i saw this was an indicator. He will look if i point dont know if i should be worried at his age or not. He also does like playing on his own in the house will amuse himself with his toys which he can use, is playing with his shape sorter at the mo. I would not say he is passive has a wicked sense of humour is always smiling and is about as nosy as they come and takes a real interest in children.

Most of me thinks he is just an independant little boy who just hasnt pointed or talked much yet but the seed of doubt is sown and is driving up the wall with worry, that and i have spend the whole day pointing at everything

When you point at something across the room does he look at your hand or does he look in the direction that you are pointing to?

Does he seem to understand a lot of what you say to him?

think he is lookin in direction i pointed at hair brush this morning and he went and got it. A far as understanding he understands his name , no, bad , naughty, good where is mum, where is dad, the dogs name, yogurt, biscuit

It's definitely a good sign that he can follow a point. I'm not 100% sure but I think the theory is that they should be able to point by the age of 18 months, although many children will be able to do this before then.

If he wants a drink, toy, food etc does he try to let you know? If so, what does he do?

Apologies for all the questions.

he has never really asked for food or drink allough if we have something then he will certainly make his feelings known, as far as toys he normally just trys to get what he wants but he will cry and reach his arms over cot if he has dropped his bunny out of cot in the morning

got to go cook dinner just now will check back later so any advice or insight from anyone appreciated

There's a screening test which can be used to show which toddlers are more likely to have autism. It's usually done at 18mths old though so your ds may still be too young for this anyway. Failing the test doesn't automatically mean a child is autistic though. It just acts as a red flag.

Have a look here

Thanks i have looked at CHAT and i reckon it would be yes to everything except pointing at something and pretending to make a cup of tea but how can he imagine that when he has never seen a cup of tea made(we are coffee drinkers).
I really need to watch for him communicating with me as everything else seems normal he interacts so well in fact he usually has to be in the middle of everything.