10 1/2 month old NO BABBLING-Signs of Autism?

My son is 10 1/2 months old & does not babble at all.  He does not point/gesture(wave bye bye, blow kiss etc.)
He will imitate making a funny face when I do it or if I ask if he is sick, he will cough. That is all though.He does play w/toys normally. He doesn't spin anything inappropriately & is not fixated on things. If I show him how a toy works, he will try to do it on his own. When I call his name, many times I have to repeat it several times before I get his attention. If I say his first & middle name, he starts to get aggravated & grunts & gets mad( I always use his first & middle name when I tell him "no no" for something. (he does understand "no no" & will stop doing something(hitting the tv screen)when I tell him) If I just say his first name & repeat it a few times, he does the same thing(gets aggitated and grunts angrily at me) I wonder if he thinks I'm ready to tell him "no no" for something & he gets mad. He isn't in his own world. He hears everything that goes on & has always been alert & inquisitive. If I sit him on my lap, its always hard to get him to stay there & pay attention because he is always reaching for something, wanting to get down & play etc. He never wants to sit still. He has been cruising for 2 months & has started taking steps a few days ago .As soon as he hears a noise in the house, he jumps up & listens. He is social & loves to be played with.Again though, he doesn't babble/gesture/point. He is quiet most of the time besides squealing when he is excited. He will roll a ball back & forth to you & also loves patty cake, ring around the rosie, & he anticipates certain activities we do every day(like when I take his socks off he immediately starts laughing because I always smell his feet and say stinky feet!)I have so many worries about this because both my brother & sister have autism. Perhaps I am overanalizing everything he does b/c I know I have an increased risk of having an autistic child & I worry terribly over it.

[Rachel Thompson, Ph.D., BCBA]

Please share you concerns with your pediatrician. It is important to watch your child's development closely and to seek help when you have concerns. It does not sound as though your child is showing any significant delays, but there are some easy things that you can do to encourage language development. There are several commercially available curriculum resources to guide parents and professionals to promote healthy development. I have used the Carolina Curriculum for Infants and Toddler with Special Needs (there is also an at risk version  that is similar) with typical children and children with special needs. This resource can give you some ideas about ways to interact with your child to promote language development.