http://www.autism-pdd.net/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=20573&PN =2
Click here to go to the thread with videos of my son, who is high functioning, at age 2. Maybe it will help :)
My sons were both preterm - one was 14 weeks early, the other 4. I do know about the preemie hangovers pretty well.
The 5 week preterm thing is really nothing that should cause a delay in and of itself. If he was particularly small for gestational age or there was a placental abruption, that kind of thing, then yes, maybe watch him. But if mom's body just said "Enough already - I want to wear my bikini!" then there's no need for concern.
The good RESPONSIVE language your son has is an excellent, excellent sign! It is when they seemingly ignore your directions or observations or questions that I see flags for this age.
There is a baby sign language book by a guy named Garcia that I HIGHLY recommend for expressive language. Your child might have a little delay in his speech and that inability to put words to his ideas might be just making him POed! If you were dumped in rural Tanzania, couldn't speak the local dialect, kept ordering scrambled eggs, and all you ever got was eyeball soup...then you would be POed, too.
I swear by my own eyeballs that teaching kids to sign fosters better language development! It helps them formulate the concept that ideas have words. At age 2, my boys had 500 and 700 words in their vocabularies...had to count for the speech therapist. I swear the signing helped speed their yakking up.
Don't worry! He sounds F I N E.
what to think about our son? He is now 21 months old (born 5 weeks early) and has made pretty good progress. He has seen a developmental ped., he still sees early intervention and a speech therapist once a week.
All of these individuals do not thing he is on the spectrum. They think he's just delayed. My concerns still surround language delay (was just evaluated to be at a 15 month level- probably has 10-15 words that we undertand as words, but understands everything we say), dispostion( gets angry very easy, hits, bites, kicks), just doesn't seem as engaged like other kids his age.
On the positive side, he definitely understands yes and no questions, and will respond by saying yes or no. He does point and follow a point and definitely points to things of interest. He plays with toys appropriately and has started to feed his stuffed animals and pretends to talk on the phone.My questions are:
How severe of a delay is it for a 21 month old to be rated at a 15 month level for speech?
Could this irritability and aggression be normal "terrible two stuff"?
Does this sound like it could be something different than ASD?
What are some other things you think he should DEFINITELY be doing at this age?
Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks.
John
IMHO, a 21 month old being assessed at a 15 month level for speech is a mild delay. When my son was evaluated at age 25 months his language was assessed at a 3 month level - that was severe!
It seems like you have some good stuff going on. The fact that the speech delay is expressive only and that receptive seems fine is huge. The fact that he's responding to questions and has pretend play is very positive too.
Regarding disposition, I'd watch him closely and wait and see. I personally would start some speech therapy for the expressive language. Regardless of whether it's ASD or simply a delay he'll grow out of, the speech can't hurt. The disposition could be sensory issues, or it could just be a cranky 2 year old. If you get a good speech therapist, he/she should be able to offer an educated opinion on the behavior as well. You might want to pick up a copy of "The Out of Synch Child" and highlight anything that you think applies to your child. It's a great book for sensory issues.
I agree with Kristy. Your son's language delay sounds mild to me, but I would still look into speech services.
You asked what your son should be able to do at 21 months of age. Here is skills checklist for 2 year-olds from the CDC. I hope it helps.
http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/actearly/milestones_2years. html
I agree that sounds like a mild delay. When B was first evaluated at almost 3 years of age, his speech was at a 9 month level. It stayed there for a long long time too. Now he's being evaluated at a 2 year level at age 5. Jacob's speech delay was what lead me to have him evaluated. His delay is mild now...but at age 2 he wasn't talking. Now his receptive language is really good and in my opinion, you need receptive language before the expressive anyway, so those are the drills I work on him with. I noticed that when I started workign with both boys more on receptive language that the words have finally started comming. I'd say that after 5 months of therapy that Jacob is doing really well and Brendon is making great strides each day too.
It sounds like you're already getting EI services and that's huge. Delays can be overcome. Sounds like your little one is heading in the right direction.