21 months old boy intelligent, social, good in non-verbal communication but can not speak is he autistic ?

Question

21 months old boy very intelligent, perfect hearing, very good in non-verbal communication and also social. He does not speak. When he was 15 months old he used to utter 2 words- light and tree and that was only for few days. Now he utters one single word- one more. He never uttered other words not even papa or mama. His health is perfectly alright. Is he autistic or any other problem ?

Answer 1

Could be a language delay.  Its best to rule out the most reasonable and mild causes first before jumping to conclusions that it is Autism.  Like the others said, talk to a pediatrician, who may refer you to a speech/language pathologist.

When he is 3 if this has not improved you can contact your local school district to do a Pre-K screening/evaluation.  He may qualify for language therapy or other services (free for children ages 3-5).  Good luck!

Answer 2

Take him to a Children's health specialist, like Virginia Mason or Children's in Seattle.

  He should be looked at and tested by pros.

  When I was a kid, autism was this "unknown" affliction. Now, autistic kids are being made very "interactive."

  Don't play games with his health; have someone see him IMMEDIATELY.

Answer 3

See a pediatrician and ask his/her advice a.s.a.p.  Even if he is fine your doctor should be addressing all of your concerns small or big.

Answer 4

Well, to be honest there is always a chance but I'm not a neurologist or a doctor that can diagnosis your child with this disorder.  I would recommend you take your child to his pediatrician for a referral if necessary and have things looked into.  

I don't think you are going to get any relevant information by asking people on the Internet.  If you are concerned enough to post a question, by all means seek the appropriate resources and professionals.  I work in Early Childhood Special Education and I see this type of thing almost daily, but I would never want to tell you based on such little information and without the correct testing that your child has Autism.  I wish you the best of luck in your situation and Happy Holidays to you and your family!

Answer 5

A late speaker is a sign of intelligence!

If the child is autistic, he wouldn't show emotion, not even respond to hugs...

Answer 6

Lack of speech development and/or regression in speech can be a sign of autism, but can also be a sign of other developmental delays.

I suspected my daughter was autistic when she didn't hit the verbal milestones. At age 8 she does speak quite a bit, but still is behind in her speech by a few years...it is important that you take your son for an evaluation by a childhood developmental expert. If your son does have autism or another type of delay, then early intervention is the best.

Autism generally does not cause a child to be sick or appear sick, and most autistic children do not fit the stereotype of the non-verbal anti-social as some have characterized them as. Many autistic children are of normal intelligence, and it is also possible for autistic people to have high intelligence as well as mild mental handicaps. Each person is different.

He will probably also need to have his hearing check to rule out any kind of hearing difficulties.

Good luck with your son.

Answer 7

doesn't mean that he is autistic, I suggest getting him tested for autism.

if he has very good non-verbal communication, then great. Does he point? grunt? pull you to what he wants? All those are fine for home setting, but work on giving him a list of ASL signs that he can incorporate into his vocabulary. This way, when he gets into public school other teachers would know what he's asking for.

Has he been evaluated for speech therapy? Sometimes they will work on using his voice to communicate, but I would try and teach him at home how to sign eat, drink, bathroom, help, thankyou, sleep, go, want, more, and please. Once he's mastered these introduce his favorite objects/food such as book, apple, puzzle, orange, dog, etc. Again, once mastered these "favorite" items put the list together ... "more apple" and "want puzzle"

Hope this helps

Answer 8

Take your child to your pediatrician, if your doctor does nothing take him to a specialist...he could be autistic or have asperger's...are you sure his hearing is ok? Please do not hesitate

Answer 9

He might have autism or he might be turning mute.

I'm not very sure...

Answer 10

There can be a number of issues going on here.

*He could be late speaking because he is a boy  and because everybody gives him everything wants when he points. You might try prompting the name of the object he wants before giving it to him. If he refuses to make any kind of an utterance, then put it away.(We are talking non-essential to life items).

Try that for a few days and if it doesn't work, go on to the next things. Remember he will flip out ant cry if you don't give him what he wants. That is called the extinction burst. Try to ignore it. He is used to getting things by pointing. It won't hurt to do this for a couple of days.

He could have an underlying expressive and receptive language disorder. Try reading up on it on the 'Net. It is not that uncommon and could be the issue. Do take him to a developmental pediatrician.

Except for the social skills, he could be mildly autistic. I say mildly because he can do non-verbal communication, which autistic kids cannot. If his social skills also, start to regress, that is when you would really want to worry. It is not uncommon for children to be fairly typically developing and then regress between 16 months and 24 months. This would apply as much to social skills as to speech.

Since there are so many reasons this could be happening, a trip to a developmental pediatrician may ease your fears.

Also, when he is around 2.5 years old, you can contact the Pre-K special education program at your school district. They will send out a team of people to help assess your child. If they have any real concerns, they will do a pretty thorough work up including adaptive skills and speech and language assessments. He will be eligible to attend Pre-school at 3 if he is found eligible for language services.