Is my 18 month old grandson autistic or ADHD?

[JAM234]

My grandson lives in Mexico with my son whose first langauge was English but speaks Spanish very fluently and a mother who is a Mexican citizen and her first langauge was Spanish but speaks English well.  He primarily hears Spanish daily except when my son reads to him nightly in English. He hears English constantly when they spend a week to two weeks with us about every two months.  He is a picky eater who says only a few words in English and Spanish - leche (Spanish) ; "I see" (from being read the book, Brown Bear, Brown Bear) and "yea" (then claps).  He uses only leche meaningful but not consistently.  He occasionally repeats a word that has been said to him but does not use it again.  He likes to stare out the windows and walk around a room sometimes saying unintelligible words.  He usually will turn when his name is called but not all the time.  He appears to understand the majority of what you are saying to him and will come when requested but not consistently.  He does not wave or say hello or good bye or point at objects, people, animals, etc.  He only occastionally looks at items when someone says ,"Look at   " and points; usually if he does look at it, it is because you have turned his head that direction and the object is in motion.  He plays with a variety of toys and does not stay with a toy any longer than a child his age usually does.  He does have some trouble changing activities but not always; he can be redirected fairly easily.  He is now screaming when he does not get what he wants and will about once a day throw himself gently down on the ground while screaming.
Sometimes tears come with the screaming but most of the time he just screams until someone figures out what he wants. He does not want to drink from a sippy cup and only wants a bottle for his juice and milk, although he has been rejecting the milk lately.  At one time, he only wanted milk and not solid food.  Now he seems to like some solid food like crackers and cookies and other starchy foods but not veg. or meat.  He does not seem to have sensory deprivations as he likes to be turned upside down; likes swinging and being bounced.  I have been diagnosed as ADHD and so has my son.  My son's language developed normally but we only spoke English to him. Could my grandson have signs of ADHD with issues because of the dual languages or possibly be demonstrating Austistic characteristics?

[mom_with_3_kids]

He definitely has a language delay.  My twins were like that.  They had lots of frustration because they couldn't ask for things like a typical 18-month-old.  We did Early Intervention.  I'm not sure what the options are in Mexico.  We did do a hearing check as that can also cause speech delays.

His other behavioral issues could be an early sign of ADHD or autism/Aspergers.  It could also be the start of the 'terrible twos'.  For us, they lasted from 18 to about 30 months.  Once the frustration from the language delay is gone, these other things might fix themselves.

I've heard of a child who had delays due to 2 languages being spoken in the home.  The child didn't want to do it wrong so he didn't speak.

[JAM234]

Thank you for your response.  I appreciate your comments.

[KORY68]

18 months - that's young.
If he was autistic - he'd be putting things in order - like blocks that match or look like they match to him, etc.
And ADHD - 18 mos is way too young to see that.

Babies change taste buds. His body may not require protein foods at the moment ... so he's gravitating toward starches. That's ok. He's just a baby.
Sounds like a healthy baby to me.