speech delay

HI, my son completed 4 yrs last month only he had severe speech delay other than speech delay he is very active .adorable affectionate,mingle with others easily,milestones are normal .watches movies and repeats some words and we went for hearing test its normal and advised we need to improve his speech by talking to him all the time and improve the sitting tolerance and speech therapy and he is under speech therapy from one month he improved a little bit...................mt Dr said that he is having minor autistic features so if we give him speech therapy he will pick up easily....my query is is autistic children not normal ???? is speech delay and active means autism????

i need advice if he have autistic features ??

thanks
worried mother

[Rachel Thompson, Ph.D., BCBA]

Autism is characterized by delays in social development and language development and the presence of repetitive behavior. There are many other reasons for delayed speech, but speech therapy is appropriate for children with and without a diagnosis of autism. So, it is never a mistake to get speech therapy. From your description, it does not sound like your son has social difficulites, and the only repetittive behavior that you mentioned is repeating lines from movies. While continuing speech therapy, I recommend that you monitor these other areas carefully and share all concerns with your peditrian.