Is it early signs of Autism or just speech delay

[joemm]

Hi,

My son is 18 months old and he's saying only 3 words, car car, ball ball and dog dog. Other than that, he babbles(not meaningful words) a lot of words. He understands the instructions we give to him. But he only engages eye-to-eye contact sometimes. He did not respond sometimes when we call his name. But he is quite socialized and active. Whenever  we go out, he'll greet to other people. When we read the books to him, he will show only the things he knows like ball even though we show him train, duck, cup, etc.

However, he can answer the questions from cartoons like "Where is Swiper in Dora the Explorer". He can point out Swiper correctly.

Is it an early signs of autism or just a speech delay.

Thx in advance,
Joe

[Jason C Bourret, Ph.D., BCBA-D]

At this point, it sounds like just a speech delay. The interest in socializing is an excellent sign. However, only positive things can come from having him assessed and I would recommend you pursue that route. Even if he doesn’t receive a diagnosis for an autism-spectrum disorder, he may qualify for services that can help with the speech delay. Early intervention of that sort can be enormously helpful.

[mandy6420]

i have a son with severe autism and he was and is doing the exact same things but my son has a diagnosis

it might be an idea to take ur little one to a peadiatrican that specialises in autism spectrum disorders and get him to check over ur little one and can go from there