Insight and Advice Needed
Hello,
I took my son to his 24 month appointment with his pediatrician. At 18 months she recommended EI due to my son's lack of communication. My son knows words but doesn't say them often. EI at my state never called me back after the first outreach so we took him to private ST. His private ST said she doesn't think he has autism but will not rule it out because its harder to diagnose with some children as they are still developing and only time will tell.
My son has made a lot of improvement since 18 months. Sometimes there is two way communication but doesn't happen often but he let's us know what his wants or needs.
According to his speech therapist she says she is still on the fence about him because he does repetitive play and wants to do it alone. (Example: he takes toys from one side of the room to the other and back and forth.) But then they are times when he does play and hes engaged with playing with others. He only lines toys in the tub but then drops them back in or doesn't mind if I move them. He hand leads but points or gestures at what he wants. He brings me his toys and started saying open.
Socially my son smiles at everyone and hugs them. My son hasn't been exposed that much to a group of children, I'm a sahm. We take him to public places and doesn't have meltdowns. Hes okay coexhisting with children but doesn't parallel play yet with them. His pediatrician is concerned that he should be doing that already but in my head i haven't exposed him to play groups or other children often. He does hug kids at times or boops them but can also ignore them.
My son also battles sleep but once he knocks out its 10-12 hrs of sleep. Sometimes i have to rock him on the stroller other times he knocks out on his own. My pediatrician is concerned that he might be high functioning and wants to make sure he doesn't fall through the cracks and wants him to start ST, OT, behavioral sooner than later.
His speech therapist says that my son is a hard one for sure to tell. She said she would be curious how his evaluation will go or if he would also stump the person assessing him.
My husband thinks we should wait to see if its more evident as he continues to develop. My siblings also think I should wait. They say he might be just neurodivergent and not autistic.
As his mother who's and overthinker and anxious i honestly don't know what to do. But I do know that I want to be able to give my son all the resources he needs. I have called places to get him evaluated but waiting to hear back.
If I have written anything that may offend anyone, I apologize. Please correct me if something came across as offensive, I am learning. Thank you for the advice and suggestions!