P.S. Since you did not say your daughter was diagnosed with autism, I am assuming she was not.
Since all of my children were chatterboxes, it came as a surprise that two of my 10 grandchildren did not speak at all until they were three. There was nothing wrong with them. They were not deaf. They were as clever as all the others - they just didn't speak. (They made normal noises, so there was nothing wrong with their vocal chords.) We did not consult doctors about this delay and simply sat back and waited. When they finally did speak, they made up for lost time. By the way, even before they began speaking, they understood what others said.
Children come in infinite variety. We have the duty to be careful observers. We also have to be careful about choosing intervention for what may just be personal developmental peculiarities.
look up landau kleffner syndrome it seems that some children are misdiagnosed because parents and doctors don't look at everything. and parents don't know about this condition and not told about it.
Sorry, I have just noticed your doughter is more than three. In this case she still would need the assesment and if she is in the spectrum, than she will have the right to specially taylored for her needs program in the special needs preschool.
Child who is younger than 3 years old and has been diagnosed being in the spectrum will receive free therapies- either behavioral or speech, you just pay monthly copayment - and the amount depends on your income.
Speech terapy contributed to a lot of improvement and so did behavioral, but in the latter's case it's hard to assess whether the development is due to therapy or just your child's catching up.
Ask your doctor about "birth to three" program and your chil'd assessment.
Good luck!
thank you kindly for your response.
what kinds of therapies is she getting? what has worked for her so far? what has she qualified for.
She does sound like my doughter (now 2.5 year old), although my doughter is more delayed with speech than yours. She'll say what she wants or doesn't want, and that's about it. Good great/fine motor skills and delay in social behaviours (only parallel play and also has to be faciliated), so-so eye contact (good with me, ok with adults, pretty much none with peers).My doughter also loves to play with me or daddy, but it is mostly reading, drawing etc. She will not play or even acknowledge other kids, unless she is forced to, then she will play, but paralel only.
Also no answers to questions like: did you like it, are you happy, how was your day.I think that speech will come eventually, more worried about the social aspects.
Anyway, she is under the autism spectrum disorder program right now.