No pointing = Bad Prognosis?

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	Hi All, Since my daughter failed to point by 12 months and consquently failed to develop receptive and expressive language by 18 months I am really concerned about her medium term prognosis, after tons and tons of training she has made some gains with expressive language but has serious problems with understanding 2 part sentences and anything that doesn't involve a physical close object (as in the same room), she has maybe 4 words (mama, dada, No, yeee for yes) and maybe 10 word approximations that are really really hard to tell apart, does that mean: a. that her language will be limited? b. Does that say anything about her functioning level? She has to be "taught" everything, no ability to pick stuff up or very limited. c. will normal pointing ever evolve? she was taught to point in therapy but she does it by raising both her index finger and her thumb. She also uses it mostly to request thing but not to draw attention to things. I think the bottom line is that I am really scared because all the reseach says that children who do not point don't have an encouraging prognosis. She is now 26 months old and has been in therapy for 6 months. T never pointed and she is workign at grade level for the most part. I mean, I think with being taught she did it  ... but never generalized it.  Still does not request joint attn except for her MOVIES  , with the obsessional questioning when she knows the answers .... These are the resources I have on predicting prognosis: http://www.autism-pdd.net/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=17877&am p;KW=prognosis+resources But no one can predict the future.  Make realistic short term goals, and if she doesn't meet them consider a change in therapy.  And get her hearing checked by a specialist, if it hasn't been done already. Good luck with everything.   My grandson does not point either, but I have recently seen him also use his index finger and thumb together but I didn't associate that with pointing.  He is non-verbal, making only sounds.  I am wondering if anyone knows what the percentage of non verbal children actually learn to speak?  I realize every child is different, but not being able to communicate is extremely difficult.  We recently purchased the Baby Bumble Series for non-verbal children.  Has anyone tried these DVD's and flashcards?  Thanks. Grammy to 19 month old grandson dx PDD-NOS Is there any reason I can't edit? I meant to say Baby Bumble Bee series. Grammy -- editing privileges are earned after a certain number of posts.  I'm not sure what the exact rules are.  The moderators felt that some people were abusing the editing privilege -- saying offensive things and then deleting them before the moderator could see it and deal with it.  Therefore they decided on a rule for earning editing privileges.   We have the Baby Bumble Bee Series.  It has been great for my son and he was able to generalize the words he learned.[QUOTE=nohaadel78] Hi All, Since my daughter failed to point by 12 months and consquently failed to develop receptive and expressive language by 18 months I am really concerned about her medium term prognosis, after tons and tons of training she has made some gains with expressive language but has serious problems with understanding 2 part sentences and anything that doesn't involve a physical close object (as in the same room), she has maybe 4 words (mama, dada, No, yeee for yes) and maybe 10 word approximations that are really really hard to tell apart, does that mean: a. that her language will be limited? b. Does that say anything about her functioning level? She has to be "taught" everything, no ability to pick stuff up or very limited. c. will normal pointing ever evolve? she was taught to point in therapy but she does it by raising both her index finger and her thumb. She also uses it mostly to request thing but not to draw attention to things. I think the bottom line is that I am really scared because all the reseach says that children who do not point don't have an encouraging prognosis. She is now 26 months old and has been in therapy for 6 months. [/QUOTE] she still so young with therphy she may make sme big prougress .it hard to say at that age if she will stay low f or become hf alot depends on it so just keep working with her an her  therphys My son didnt point for the longest time but he is considered high functioning. Prob not much help but just wanted to add that in here. Good luck! [QUOTE=143hayden]My son didnt point for the longest time but he is considered high functioning.[/QUOTE] Same here--and she still doesn't point all that often, at 5. But still considered high functioning. Have hope! Sounds like your baby is doing well! and going to keep on improving! Your daughter sounds similar to my son at 26 months, except that the very words he had were much less functional. Highly recommend the Baby Bumble Bee videos. Used these to teach him to label items while awaiting a diagnosis. Quickly picked up 70 labels but didn't use language in sentences or to request things for probably another year. At 5 he scores above average on a speech evaluation and working on pragmatics. Academically ready for 1st grade, socially emotionally still behind but hope ready for kindergarden in the fall. After 2 1/2 years of a VB program,still rarely points but if you ask him to point at something he can. There is no way to predict language progress at this young age. Of course, it's clear your child does have language delays and needs as much early intervention as she can get.  60 days before her 3rd birthday, put in a written request to your local school district to evaluate her for an IEP thru them.  She will age out of EI at 3 and she should not have any interruption in services if that can be avoided.  Pointing is the very first "language" a child has because it is reciprocal communication.  See if those who are working with your daughter can show you how to use PECS.  This is very best way to get her to actually see what communications means.  Making sure she gets NOTHING she wants without actively communicating with you is the best method for encouraging eventual language.  My son is only 15 months old, and has already been diagnosed by his pediatrician with mild to moderate autism.  He doesn't talk, babble, wave, point, interact with other kids, no expressive language skills, doesn't eat, bangs his head and spins wheels or bowls a lot.  I will also try the Bumble Bee dvd's if I can find them on line.  We will be starting therapy next week with early intervention.
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