Best to find out. When they are young. Plus if he has it. It will help you as well too.
A speech therapist is not qualified to diagnosed Autism, a child psychiatrist is, I would talk to his family doctor about your concerns and get a referral and have your child tested, that is the only to get a correct diagnose and the correct help your child will need now and in the future.
First and foremost, Being autistic has absolutely nothing to do with intelligence. 2nd, if your child is autistic it has nothing to do with you failing. 3rd, yes some boys take longer to talk as do some girls, some kids just prefer not to talk too. LAST, get the child to a doctor and get a diagnosis before you start freaking out. Autism is not a death sentence, but it does mean learning a whole new way of parenting.
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My son wasn’t really talking either. Took him to Ear Nose and Throat clinic found our he had fluid in his ears which is why he wasn’t talking. Had tubes put in his ears drained now he’s perfectly fine
Children with autism can be geniuses. If your child has it, you are not a failure! Your child could be slow at talking because of the two languages. Give it more time, but please love him no matter what and learn some more facts.
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check to see if he is tongue tied I have a friend that her grand daughter wasn’t talking at 3 years old and come to find she was tongue tied and she went to a doctor and they clip the skin under her tongue and she started talking !!! ???
Special Ed teacher here: does he shy away from eye contact? Does he do a lot of repeat play like lining up cars? Lack of speech you’ve already noticed. Any repetitive movement like flapping or stimming? Could look like quick arm movements, hand flapping. No interest in playing with other children? Sometimes seems like their in their own world? Sensory issues? I know these things are overwhelming, and as a parent you don’t want for your child, but autism is not a bad thing. Many children on the spectrum are highly intelligent and are successful given the right tools. I would say if the speech therapist is saying he might have autism, I would have him evaluated. If it were me, I’d rather know than wonder and be able to get him the help he needs.
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Autism is definitely not something to be afraid of! My autistic daughter is brilliant and thriving. She was slow to speak and used to have terrible meltdowns, but as we gave her the tools she needed that all went away. Sign language decreased her frustration before she was fully speaking, as did visual schedules and picture cards. OT helped us identify her sensory needs and when she has access to be able to regulate her sensory needs, she is so happy and calm. Sometimes this means bouncing on the trampoline, swinging, wearing a compression vest, sitting with a weighted blanket, using her noise canceling headphones, popping a bubble pop fidget toy. When she has those to freely access, she can generally stay regulated on her own now, though it took us all some time to learn it together and it does change periodically as she is growing up.
She is 4 and thriving in PreK with “typical” peers. She is happy and healthy and amazing.
Don’t be afraid of a diagnosis. SEEK it out. If you’re child is autistic, learn about autism (especially from autistic adults!), and find therapists who can support the child in being their very best most fantastically authentic autistic self.
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Have you had his hearing checked ? Many deaf to severely hard of hearing children are misdiagnosed as autistic or other syndromes. Please have his hearing checked by an audiologist to rule out deafness. If he is deaf then you can proceed with proper treatment. Deaf children do not speak because they do not hear speech. I was born hard of hearing. I wear hearing aids and use sign language. I am also a sign language interpreter in the school system. I have worked with deaf children and adults for many years. So I am speaking from experience, please have his hearing checked.
Just watch him and keep encouraging and PLEASE be patient with him,if he is Autistic its best to know early,I have three Autistic grandchildren between two of my three children. I’m soo proud of them🥰 and proud of my first grand also
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Talk to your pediatrician ASAP. Also get your kid started on sign language. My almost 5 year old granddaughter was diagnosed at the age of one and we are learning sign language as she is nonverbal. If your child cannot tell you their name their parents names and their addresses by the time they are three they are considered non-verbal
Talk to your pediatrician to have an evaluation completed. Early treatment is the best if thatnis what he has.
Autism does NOT mean not smart! There are so many levels of severity BUT they are very intelligent people.
Definition: a developmental disorder of variable severity that is characterized by difficulty in social interaction and communication and by restricted or repetitive patterns of thought and behavior.
My great-grandson had Apraxia and could not speak. He began speech therapy at 2 and had to be taught to make sounds, then words. He is 15 today and can say anything and is very intelligent. Makes all A’s.
Common misconception on autism spectrum disorder is that the children are not dumb. They have a different way of learning and processing life skills.
Children from bilingual homes may start speaking later, good news is that they know 2 languages! My daughter didn’t speak until she was 3, my sister in law either and she’s a doctor. This doesn’t rule out autistic spectrum but I would think that you would see other signs besides being non verbal by his age.
The earlier the intervention, the more success your son will have. There is no harm in keeping an open mind. Doctors will do their best to support you through it. My son also has autism and didnt speak until 3ish. It doesn’t define who he is or his gifts. And people with autism can be very smart. Education is key
Autistic children are very bright. He will talk when he’s ready if that’s the case. Does he have older siblings that give him what he wants? That can slow him down. If he doesn’t need to talk, he won’t.
Not being able to look you in the eye is a symptom. These children can be very intelligent yet be on the autistic spectrum disorder category
Knew of a family that was teaching their child 2 Languages…it held her back …trying to learn both…over whelmed her
My brother was like this when he was ypunger but he never was diagnosed with austim and now he is 23 and he is just fine
I definitely recommend getting a professional evaluation. Don’t worry too much about it though, you just need to make sure you are getting him the best care possible. My step son just turned 3 and I noticed around 2 that he was delayed in speech. I also have a son who is a month younger than my step son, so it was blatantly obvious the difference in his speech. I found that my step who struggles to speech gets frustrated while trying to communicate, this causes him to not interact with the rest of the kids as much, he tends to play alone more often than with the rest of the kids. We have 7 kids in our home. He lives with us 50% of the time, when he is here he will interact with the other kids at times and it’s becoming more frequently as time goes on. His speech is slowly improving. So don’t panic, it could be autism or it could be nothing, let the professionals determine if it is. It is by no means a failure on your part at all! Parenting is a challenge no matter what you go through, take it one step, one day at a time and just do your best! No one is the “perfect” parent! Do not put yourself down because your child is doing their own thing! Embrace it, let it teach you that life can take so many different paths and not all of them are the same! Everyone has their different struggles!
Many people on the autism spectrum are very intelligent. Have the testing and see if threaphy will help him.
My grandson has autism. At 2 1/2 he was diagnosed. At the age of three he was non verbal, but thanks to wonderful teachers he has been fully speaking by the age of four. He is extremely smart. At the age of two, he was putting 50 PC puzzles together. My advice to you is to get a diagnosis asap. The earlier these children are treated, the better! Nothing to blame yourself for, he might just be a little different with his interactions.
That sounds like non verbal autism. That’s exactly like my grandson. He is 5 and has worked with therapists and has just started to speak words. There are so many different spectrums of autism. Don’t let the word autism scare you there’s a lot of help out there for it
My opinion I would say most definitely if he doesn’t speak by age two (mom-dad-no etc) then something is wrong. I’m no expert but I’d say yes
My twin are 25 now an we just got the diagnose of autism three years ago through a whole x nom geno test an they have a rare form psmd12 21 case in the world .one did not walk till he was. 17mon an the other walk normal an then stoped at 12mon . but there speech is hard to understand better now but not to worry my are high functioning the just received their eagle rank in boy scouts
Have a professional do some testing to either allay your fears or do things to help him right now
Is he in special needs classes, take him to Children’s Hospital for a check up.
do you have any pets he might interact with ?
Have you had his hearing checked. Maybe harder hearing.
Have your son evaluated by a pediatric neurologist.
Go on FB. Look for Finding Coopers Voice. You will gain insight.
My granddaughter had Select Mute Syndrome and didn’t talk to me until after she started school. I knew she could talk because I would catch her talking with my other granddaughters. But she couldn’t talk to grownups except for her mother.
My son is autistic and he was diagnosed at 18 months. He had arm flapping when excited, not speaking anymore and other things that made me suspect it. The biggest thing for me was the not speaking anymore. He is very smart but he still doesn’t talk. He says a few words here and there but not all the time or consistently. He is almost 5 now and he is in speech therapy and ot and early intervention.
My son didn’t talk, it was due to him having fluid in his ears , and large tonsils and adenoids.