Please, HELP! Is it ASD?

[ILUVMYISAAC]

I have lately been worried (obsessing) over the idea that my almost 18 month old son may have autism and here is why:

He does not wave, point, and play pretend. Even when I point, wave, or play pretend, he still will not.

He does not acknowledge when we call his name.. especially when we are around groups of people.  We have to call his name numerous times for him to even respond.  And even then he may not.

He is pretty social... he loves to smile and wont deny someone playing with him... but you have to come up to him and play.  Many times he'll shrug you off or play only for a minute or so.  Other than that, he prefers to play on his own.  He is the only child but has been around other children from the first week of his life.  I love to get him out and around other children.

He does make noises but does not talk. If he hears a word, sometimes randomly, he may say it but never again.  He makes high pitch screams and grunts.  He doesn't communicate his needs or wants.  

He flaps his arms.  He also spins in circles.

He is very particular about how he plays with his toys.  If it won't spin he doesn't want it.  If there is anyway he can make it spin then he'll play with it... but only to make it spin.  I have been trying to get him to pretend play on the phone but he only takes it to spin it or toss it.  He has ride on toys which he does OCCASIONALLY sit on but he'd rather flip them over to spin the wheels.

He's pretty good about making eye contact but it normally a glance.

He's pretty much in his own world throughout the day.  He loves to do things on his own.

I've started noticing something back when he was around 12 months old.  Please, tell me I'm not crazy.  Everyone has been telling me that he's fine.  I just have this gut feeling that something is up and want answers.  I do plan on discussing this at his 18 month check up.  He will be 18 months on the 28th of this month. Just wondering if it could be ASD?

[basiak]

Your son sounds a lot like mine.  He is going to be two next week and he does not have any words yet.  He used to say a few words when he was a year old, but lost that ability.  He also grunts a lot and hums.  He's also very happy and loves to laugh and play, and even seeks us out for "chasing" games, but otherwise he likes to run around the house (or down the sidewalk) and plays by himself.  He does not know how to play with a toy appropriately, rather, he spins wheels, takes pieces off of the puzzles (without ever putting them back on) and throws blocks around.  
He's been evaluated by early childhood development and they have placed him in a toddler autism characteristics group.  Their opinion was devastating to me, but I knew deep down that he needed their help.  What is most important is not the label (and I know that's tough to get over) but that he get the help he needs.  
Whether he's on the spectrum or not, it won't hurt him to get specialized help with speech, communication and eye contact.  At his age, it's provided by your state - and paid for by your taxes - so there's no reason not to look into it.  
Good luck!

[ILUVMYISAAC]

It wouldn't let me add everything that I wanted to say so I'll just add some now...

When he says those random words... he hears it and then says it.  It sounds really off when he says it.  For example, I said "out" while we were in my room and he repeated, "ow".  So, it sounded like he said "out" and he hasn't said it since.  And there are only a handful of words that he's even repeated.

Eye contact - it's very limited.  He wont make eye contact when upset and he certainly won't let you touch him when he's upset.  On the other hand, I am the only one who he will let hold him when he's upset and even then it's for a short time.