Does my 26 month old son have Autism?

I have a couple of concerns regarding my child's development.  I feel there is something wrong with my son, I can't pin point if he has autism, ADHD or something else may be wrong with him.  His speech is very poor, he is not able to speak in sentences and currently he is only speaking a couple of basic words such as : "dada", "ducky", "go", "help", "color", "book", "broke".  What I am noticing is that he is replacing words that start with a B with a G, so instead of "broke", he will say "ghoke".  I am also concern that he does not pay attention when we speak to him.  I don't know if he can't hear or if he isn't understanding or if he is just ignoring us.  I have taken him to the Dr. to have his ears checked and yeah he has had a couple of ear infections, but he hasn't had anything major.  I have voiced my concerns to his Dr. regarding his development and lack of speech and she just told me to give him some time, ( at least 6 months) and if he is still having a difficult time with his listening skills and having speech issues then she will refer him to have him evaluated.  I have noticed that he gets angry very easily and when he does he starts throwing not just his tantrums but he throws things whatever he may have in his hand across the room.  

[William L. Holcomb, Ph.D., BCBA-D]

At least some of your son’s behavior does not sound outside of the range of typical development.  For example, I have included a link to a website below at the National Institutes of Health regarding typical speech and language development.  It includes checklists that help you determine if your child is “on track” with communication development as well as definitions.  On the other hand some, of the behaviors (i.e., not paying attention to you) might be an indication of some developmental problems.  One point that I want to make is that many of the behaviors you are describing can be typical of any developing two-year-old child (and the younger the child is, the wider the range of these behaviors may be).  It usually comes down to the frequency of these behaviors that is indicative of a problem.  Below are several websites with information about autism spectrum disorders (some specific to early identification).  You may find it helpful to review these sites and see if your concerns are valid.  

Pediatricians are usually the first contact point for accessing additional assessments and services, and apparently she did not think something was different enough to refer you to a local Early Intervention Program (EIP) for further assessment and treatment?  Although her recommendation was to wait, I strongly suggest that if you notice any decrease in your son’s development you contact the pediatrician at that time and not wait.  

Websites:

About.com Pediatrics
http://pediatrics.about.com/od/weeklyquestion/a/04_signs_autism.htm
American Academy of Pediatrics
http://www.aap.org/healthtopics/Autism.cfm
First Signs
http://www.firstsigns.org/

National Institutes of Health (on language development)
http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/voice/speechandlanguage.html#mychild