why would they make us wait any longer???

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I went through the exact same thing with my younger son. He seemed to be developing well - then at 9 months I noticed he wasn't responding to his name and he had started to shake his head in a way that made me nervous (in retrospect, I think it was his teeth, but at the time I was worried it was a stim). I called EI. In PA, not responding to your name at 9 months qualifies you for services (so it must be a 25% delay). I also emphasized the family history of autism which I think helped with them taking my concerns seriously. The good news - at 21 months he tested out of services and no longer qualified. He is 4 now and, honestly, I am still unsure. He doesn't have enough delays to qualify for services today. But, I wouldn't be shocked if some day he gets an ASD diagnosis (I KNOW we'll get an ADHD diagnosis).

I hope that EI in your state will provide services. I agree that it made me feel MUCH better when I knew he had a techer and someone else to keep their eyes on him. However, it may be a long time before you know anything concrete.

Neither of my boys have great eye contact - however, both can hold eye contact if you are doing something new or silly So, during the evaluation my little guy actually had OK eye contact. I am not sure they actually scored it in any way during the eval (it had been a while, though, so I am not 100% sure).

I know that without my older son having been diagnosed ASD, I never would have even thought to call EI at 9 months. I am sure they get very few calls for kids not responding to their name at that age. However, I knew I would feel better having the eval. I will always be glad that I called and had that support early on...even if he is never diagnosed with anything. It definitely made that time easier.

and what types of things did they do with your son when he was that young? I am waiting till about the afternoon today, and if I don't hear back from the EI coordinator I called, I am just going to call their main line. Just wondering what they would do with a very young child.

We had a teacher once a week and an OT once a month for mild sensory issues. The teacher mostly played with him, worked on reciprocal play, increasing vocabulary when he start to talk, made sure he kept up on fine motor skills (stacking blocks, puzzles etc...), read to him etc... It was nice for me too - she checked to make sure he was on track and gave me advice on things to work on if he lagged a little. Also, if I was worrying about anything, I could bounce it off her.

OK, now I am thoroughly confused! He seems to be much better. His eye contact the past few days has been great, he is responding to his name better, he has repeated a few words like he used to. He seems MUCH more engaged. Whats going on?

Still no gesturing like waving or pointing.

I am going to still talk to EI when they call. Not too sure what they will do but I will let them know everything that has been going on. I am confused!

If there is one thing consistent about young ASD kids, it's that they are inconsistent. If I ever think my son is doing very well, very soon he starts functioning very poorly.

Your post made me remember something.

When my daughter was evaluated for the second time at 22 months, she had said only a handful of words in her life, and none really with intention except for dada, I think. The rest were "once only" cases. More echolalia than anything.

Don't you know that during her evaluation, she correctly labeled 4 items on flashcards, including "cow," which was something she had no personal experience with. Her father and I were dumbfounded. She never said those words again for at least a year and didn't have any more spontaneous speech for weeks into her therapy.

I'm not trying to rain on your parade. It is great that your son is doing better. It just made me remember how really crazy my daughter's development was when she was a lot younger. One of the first things she said with intention was "broken moon" when pointing at a crescent moon. I mean, how was it that she could not say hardly any single words, yet she could spit out "broken moon"?

Fascinating little minds, they have, don't they?

still waiting to get the call, I did get a letter in the mail that they would be calling me in a few days...wonder if they will call before his 1 year physical on Sat? it is so perplexing, I am happy to report he is still engaged and doing well, though I do wait for the other shoe to drop again.