The second child is a boy. I starting to worry a little bit about Abby's younger brother Danny. He will be 19 months old on Oct 16. I can see the diffences with him at this age in areas that Abby lacked. Already able to follow some one-step commands, very loving, likes to be held, points and follows. When I took him to his well check up the other day there was a little girl in the waiting room the same age as him. She had 2 to 3 word sentences a few at least. When the nurse asked me how many words he is saying I said about 5. When the pediatrician came in he said right now he seems to be a little behind with his speech but he usually gives boys until 21 months before he looks into it.
But I am thinking, since ASD's are more common with boys and your chances of having a second child on the spectrum go up if you already have one , I wonder if your chances go up more if the second child is a boy? Does anyone follow me?I follow you...not sure. I know we're trying for another child and I am REALLY crossing my fingers, standing on my head, etc for a GIRL...that whole 1:4 thing for boys scares me...especially since I ALREADY have a boy who is affected...I don't know how I'd handle another. Probably the same, but ...geesh.
i think it is always a good idea to take the precautions with second child and have evals and such just to be on the safe side. Look, it won't hurt to do it and you won't have to be wondering for the next 4 years.
I definitely see your logic.
Personally, I think it's best to avoid the "is he, isn't he?" question and just get siblings evaluated as a matter of course. I myself had virtually no concerns about my youngest son, since he had a VERY different developmental path from my son with autism. Yet, it turns out he had social delays that I couldn't see because I didn't observe him in the preschool setting. If I'd asked for help monitoring his development, he would have gotten help sooner, instead of playing catch-up now that he's started school. He may never end up with an autism diagnosis, but his social delays are there and I wish they had been discovered sooner.
Good luck with everything.
I have a 2nd son about the same age as yours (20 months) and he does not put 2 words together yet. He is considered typical in speech, but has more words. The biggest thing I see that is different from my first is that he can point, follow a point and he understands directions (receptive). I think it would be wise to have someone (maybe a SLP) eval your son and keep and eye on him because you do have a higher chance of having another child with a developmental delay even if it isn't an ASD. I check in with my older sons therapists regarding my younger one and they suggest that a sibling be evaluated around 18 months.I'm not sure, but I was told your chance of any developmental issue goes up with a child on the spectrum. I would definitely at least purse a speech evaluation. I got a ASD eval for my 2 year old to be on the safe side (thinking he was NT) and he just got a mild PDD-NOS dx.My oldest child is a BOY and he is NT, my youngest is a girl with ASD. My son is a little quirky, but he didn't start talking until over the age of 2 and didn't really do sentences until 3! I think that I why my daughter was diagnosed so late because they thought she was a "late talker" like her brother. My son was appropriate, made eye contact, pointed things out and let me know the 'status of the neighborhood". I don't think that it is bad to err on the side of caution and I would seek an evaluation; however, just because he is a boy doesn't mean that he is going down the same path.
That being said..my neighbor has a 2 year old that talks in complete sentences and sounds like her big sister (age 6). This is a child who at 26 months old told her grandmother to "Be quiet, you are giving me a headache". I would hate for any parent of any child to compare their kid to this verbal wonder. Both my kids were so delayed in speech, that I don't have a good feel for what is normal.
Its tough to tell. My two oldest children were talking like little adults when