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I don't know, that just sounds like a child who's good at concentrating when he's into something. And a lot of children are really awful listeners.

Sounds like a two year old to me. My bff's child was diagnosed around 3. She became concerned when he started regressing. At 2, he stopped eating almost everything he once ate, would freak about certain sensory things like clothes or noises that he never did before, and he slowly stopped saying words he previously knew altogether.

@hellobeeboston: I think it sounds normal? I was worried about my almost 3 year old for a while because he was just like your son. I was worried about his hearing mostly because he wouldn't respond to us. But I think it's really just that he's very independent and into whatever he's doing, so he ignores us! He still is very independent at almost 3, but does respond more now, haha, so it might just be a phase? Definitely keep an eye on it, but I think it might be normal.

@hellobeeboston: That was my issue too exactly! My older son was very clingy and engaged with us ALL THE TIME. He didn't really start playing independently until younger brother came along, and still, it was reluctantly. But younger brother has always been more independent, and so I wasn't sure what was going on! Personality differences I guess! Hopefully it's similar for you and nothing too serious going on.

@hellobeeboston: Yes, same with us about the older one being dependent and the younger one being independent. My mom says it was the same way with my brother and me.

@hellobeeboston: Just chiming in with another "sounds like normal 2 year old stuff to me." My son is 22 months, only really started talking recently, ignores me plenty of the time, lines up all of his toys in color order, and rubs a little lamb soothie to calm down. My pediatrician laughed at me when I asked her if any of this was troubling!

I completely understand your concerns. I had these same thoughts with my daughter, now 5. At 2 her expressive language was very weak compared to her receptive language skills. I'm pretty sure she had the minimum number of words. She was always quiet and sucking her fingers and touching her tag blanket to calm down. She didn't play like all the other kids, was content to just sit and look at books for hours. Once she hit 3 she completely changed and the pendulum has swung the opposite way. My problem was that she was my first, and i compared her to all of the other kids who seemed "normal". Some friends even hinted that she may be behind. Now when i look back, it was so ridiculous - everyone develops differently. I hope you get a second opinion.

@hellobeeboston: thank you for your response. We had him evealuated by EI at 16months old for some fine motor delays, at that age they wouldnt even give him a speech assessment. He didn't actually qualify at the time for anything but feeding therapy. I think he was around 20 percent delayed in almost everything, but he needed to be 30 or 35 percent to qualify. With that being said I live in Texas and it's income based. For us that was going to equate to almost $700 a month. We also have a HD insurance so it would be $3500 out of pocket before it would even kick in. The case worker is the one who suggested going the private route. We'll probably have an eval done both private and EI and see how much and what therapys he'll need before deciding which way to go. Also I wasn't really impressed with the case worker and therapist that came out to the house to do his eval then. It seemed like they were in a hurry, and they barely asked any questions. If it's not to personal could you give me an idea of what you pid for private therapy?

@hellobeeboston: ouch! I figure with DS being non verbal so far, that would be two possibly 3 speech sessions a week, plus OT for his cognitive development and feeding therapy. He's making a lot of progress but he's still behind and will qualify again. It sounds like EI at $700 a month may end up cheaper. I'm going to ask the EI board. We have an HSA and everything renews in December. So I think I may double what we've been putting in it.

My 2.5 year old (exactly 2.5) was just diagnosed with ASD through early intervention. He was first assessed at 26 months and got speech therapy. The psychologist said she saw red flags but it was too early to diagnose. Then this week, at 30 months, he was diagnosed.

My son sounds a lot like your son with some significant differences, some of which we only noticed as he started talking more. First, my son's expressive speech is behind yours - he is just now starting to put two words together, though he has a pretty big vocabulary of nouns, and he just started using requesting words at 28 months. (like open, close, help, more.) My son also flaps his arms when he's really excited or upset, and as he is talking more we are noticing a lot of echolalia and verbal perseverating. (Like, he will see the number 18 and say "eighteen! Eighteen!" over and over and over.)

Besides that, he has great joint attention, loves social games like peekaboo, is very empathetic, is a huge cuddler, makes decent eye contact with familiar people and does pretend play. The psychologist who diagnosed him said plenty of kids on the spectrum have those skills and that's why it's a spectrum. Our pediatrician says that the diagnostic criteria for ASD has widened so much that kids are being overdiagnosed and she thinks he is just exhibiting typical toddler behavior. So - same kid, two very different medical opinions.

We are increasing his speech therapy and adding some ABA therapy, and I've been reading and using play techniques from "An Early Start for Your Child With Autism" which is based on the Early Start Denver Model and offers some great suggestions for engaging your toddler with play. Even if he turns out to be completely neurotypical, it can't hurt to play more! But my philosophy is basically I'll explore interventions that help him be better able to express himself and learn to socialize but I'm wary of anything that promises to make him "normal." So speech therapy, yes; special diets, no.

@hellobeeboston: hey mama, have you filled out an MCHATR? My peds office gives them out at 18 month and 24 month well visits. It may put your mind at ease?

@hellobeeboston: lol we cross posted!

@hellobeeboston: if he scored a one I would probably print out that paper and then every time she brings it up I would show it to her, and then precede to roll my eyes . IMO I think that therapist are a little more sensitive to disabilities then your average joe, because they literally deal with them everyday. Ds ST has 4 other autistic children she sees, so I can imagine she sees red flags everywhere all the time in Neurotypical children,

@hellobeeboston: I can't wait to be able to say that about DS, but right now weve only been to 3 sessions lol