Early detection and intervention greatly increases success rates for individuals affected by an autism spectrum disorder. Use this chart to help you determine if your child’s development is within typical ranges or if you should seek an assessment. If your child does not demonstrate these typical milestones and/or exhibits behaviors listed as additional concerns, please contact your pediatrician and request a preliminary autism screener.
Age | Typical Social Development | Typical Language Development | Typical Motor Development | Additional Concerns |
6 months | Recognizes familiar faces | Babbles | Reaches for and picks up objects. Transfers objects from one hand to the other | Lack of eye contact |
12 months | Plays peek-a-boo and patty cake | Speaks five or six words | Crawls alternating hands Pulls to a standing position, begins to walk Stacks 2 blocks | Does not play with toys typically (spins car wheels instead of rolling car, lining items up instead of playing) |
18 months | Points Shows affection | Follows 1 step directions (pick-up book) | Walking independently Feeds self with fingers | Doesn’t imitate others (wave bye-bye) |
24 months | Plays with other children | Uses two to three word sentences Names toys | Can carry items while walking Feeds self with spoon | Shows little interest in other children |
A loss of language at any age is a red flag
Note that these ages are not exact, a difference of 2 months either way is still within the typical range of development.
Remember that every child is different, this chart is not a diagnostic tool but only to indicate that a more formal assessment may be called for. Meeting all milestones does not absolutely indicate the absence of an ASD just as missing milestones does not necessarily indicate the presence of an ASD.
Early signs of ASD include but are not limited to:
Lack of babbling, gesturing and pointing by age 1
Doesn’t respond to name
Lack of eye contact
Doesn’t play with toys like other children do
Loss of language
Excessively lines up objects
May seem hearing impaired at time
-NICHD, 2004
What do I do if I am concerned my child may have autism?
There are usually three main sources of more information regarding autism in every community, try one of these: