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At the age of 2, he should be communicating with simple sentences...but NOT doing so doesn't necessarily mean he's autistic. My youngest, who's on the spectrum, had a normal vocabulary for his age.
I would say MY son's big tell tell sign was difficulty with eye contact, and not socializing with other kids. And then as he got a little older, he developed a couple of tics and sensory issues. Interestingly enough, socks were his 'issue'. He preferred to wear them inside out, and he would take the toe of the sock, and tuck it under his foot, because the toe seam bugged him.
He started reading before kindergarden, and not because I pushed it in any way.
He was a very stubborn toddler, but then, so was his older brother, who is not on the spectrum.
Yes he is stubborn and has a tantrum a lot. Like if we sit on certain chairs he wants to sit on he bangs on the floor telling us to sit there so he can get on the chair. The other morning I heard he wouldn’t leave his stuffed animals and he wanted to take him all with him to daycare. He has never done that before though. He repeats what we say. Like I tell him to say more cheese please and he will repeat it. He is 20 months. I thought that was him being smart but now I read about echolalia. He also gets mesmerized by tv sometime or a video on my phone. Especially of himself.
Sounds like he might be autistic. I’m waiting to be assessed myself (I’m 40!) and I suspect my 4 year old is as well, although no one else has picked up on his subtle signs which sound a lot like your nephew.
Early diagnosis and access to therapies is great, but anything related to ABA therapy techniques is traumatizing to the autistic people undergoing them. In spite of this, they’re still the gold standard for “treatment” of autism.
My wife works with that population and she cringes at how its overused. There are some situations where it has its place but those are far more extreme situations than people seem to realize.
Yes he is stubborn and has a tantrum a lot. Like if we sit on certain chairs he wants to sit on he bangs on the floor telling us to sit there so he can get on the chair. The other morning I heard he wouldn’t leave his stuffed animals and he wanted to take him all with him to daycare. He has never done that before though. He repeats what we say. Like I tell him to say more cheese please and he will repeat it. He is 20 months. I thought that was him being smart but now I read about echolalia. He also gets mesmerized by tv sometime or a video on my phone. Especially of himself.
Well...18 to 24 months are the "NO!" months, for sure. Autistic or not. They have a lot going on inside their little bodies. They are struggling to express themselves, and they're trying to establish their boundaries, and lack of much vocabulary hinders them and causes a lot of frustration.
It seems wildly over-diagnosed these days; just a few decades ago, it was considered exceedingly rare. Either it's become the diagnosis of the day, or something is causing children to become autistic at an alarming rate, and we should figure out what that is.
There are lots of videos on YouTube about spotting early signs of autism. I think it's something people are more -- almost too -- conscious of these days. I remember pointing out, after studying it in a college developmental psychology course, that a child of my acquaintance wasn't speaking at all by age three (when he did begin speaking, it was echolalia), was flicking his fingers and walking on tip-toe, avoiding eye contact, etc.
The mother insisted he was just shy and became furious with me. Now we know better.
But not EVERY introverted or slightly delayed child is autistic; the pendulum has swung!
^^I agree.^^
I think its one of those things where a large amount of kids have some degree of symptoms. My niece's pediatrician made a comment about "autism" and it was wholly inappropriate considering she was still quite young, and more notably, had been far more isolated than would be normal because of the pandemic at the time. Aside from that she was a normally developing kid, just slow to talk.
My nephew is almost 2 and his mom thinks he is showing early signs of autism. I think he seems ok but neither of us are experts. He repeats certain words. Like he loves bubbles and just says the word over and over again until he finds a new fixation. It would probably concern me if this was the only word he is saying but he knows most things. I point to something and he will say what it is. Another thing that concerns her is how he is so aware if something like if his sock isn’t on right. He will keep fussing and fussing if it isn’t positioned perfectly. I noticed it the other day and took it off to fix it. He cried when I took it off. Then when I put it back on he was fussing again. I fixed it and he was fine. He had a zippered jacket on and it was warming up outside and his mother unzipped it. He was really bother by this and starting trying to hold his jacket together as if to say please zip it. I think this is all part of growing up? He is very engaging for the most part. But sometimes she has trouble with him. Randomly he will only wear certain shoes and cry’s if any he can’t wear them. He is outgoing at home but at daycare he likes to play alone. Doesn’t totally engage with the other kids.
My nephew at that age had a fixation with clocks and loved to say the word over and over. Other children who I've babysat and just been around from the time that I was a tween to present have done similar things with only one of those children eventually being diagnosed with high-functioning autism.
A lot of this sounds like developmentally normal behavior, in particular the not totally engaging with other children. Children around that age tend to do what is called "co-playing," that is, they'll play beside one another but not necessarily with one another. Some kids are also natural introverts who don't prefer the company of a lot of people. Still others prefer to interact with adults or older children rather than their peers. I wouldn't worry too much about a kid who's not exactly the life of the daycare party. That many kids in one place can be overstimulating for a natural introvert--especially if the child in question is an only child who's more used to being around adults than other children.
Some kids like my niece hated certain fabrics and types of clothing from an early age. She also had a fixation with a certain hat and a certain bathing suit that she wore at every opportunity. She outgrew the need to aways wear that hat and bathing suit (as well as physically outgrew them, of course), but as a budding young adult she still hates to wear clothing that she deems to be too itchy, scratchy, binding, or with seams that rub her the wrong way. She's not autistic.
I guess what I'm trying to say is to not borrow trouble that isn't necessarily there.
Yes he is stubborn and has a tantrum a lot. Like if we sit on certain chairs he wants to sit on he bangs on the floor telling us to sit there so he can get on the chair. The other morning I heard he wouldn’t leave his stuffed animals and he wanted to take him all with him to daycare. He has never done that before though. He repeats what we say. Like I tell him to say more cheese please and he will repeat it. He is 20 months. I thought that was him being smart but now I read about echolalia. He also gets mesmerized by tv sometime or a video on my phone. Especially of himself.
Sounds like typical two-year-old behavior for the most part. Kids also love to look at themselves be it in the mirror or in videos/still images. Take him over to the mirror or let him video himself pulling silly faces at himself. It's a delight to watch them collapse in giggles at who they see reflected back at them.
Kiddo is figuring out the world around here and has Snazzy mentioned, sometimes he might be feeling one thing and not have to words to tell others how he's feeling so he acts out in other ways as a form of communication.
Just be forewarned: the terrible twos are often followed by the terrible threes, lol. The tantrums and bossiness will pass in due course as will the repetition of things that you say as his vocabulary continues to grow.
Some parents teach their babies/toddlers some sign language. Maybe that would be helpful to your nephew and your sister. Things like being able to sign when they're hungry, tired, thirsty,'yes' and 'no', etc.
I would think that would, if anything, further delay speech; why would they be motivated to speak if they can (continue to) get their needs and wants met without speaking?
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