I have a 22 month old speech delayed son. After looking up possibilities of why he might not be speaking (much) I noticed one cause was autism. I have previous experience with working with adults with autism, Aspergers, etc., but am unsure how autism and autism spectrum disorders usually present themselves in toddlers. Here's a brief summary of my son:
My son stays at home with me. My husband works from home as well so there is always one of us attending to all his needs. For the most part, he's a very happy, curious, independent little guy. So far, he's met all his milestones on time if not early except for recently when it comes to speech. He typically gets his needs met by taking you to the area that he wants something and pointing at the object, getting it for himself, or at times he'll even point to a picture in a book for what he wants. He has said 'mama' (rarely), 'dada', 'baba' (bottle - his most favorite word), 'up', his sister's name (rarely) and a few others. What I have noticed that with the exception of bottle he may say a word and you'll never hear it again (for a long time or ever). He will give eye contact, participate in joint attention (he'll look at the object that you are pointing at), and will typically respond to his name. He does have good receptive skills - he can point to 5-6 body parts, many pictures in books, and simple commands (throw that in the trash, etc.)
He enjoys being out of the house and besides shopping, etc. I take him to a playgroup that meets every other week. Most of the kids are the same age and I haven't noticed that he behaves any different than the other children - he doesn't shy away from them and will play next to them He does do some pretend play (like pretend food\kitchen, will put a toy phone up to his ear, move cars across the floor), but he doesn't make any sounds while playing. He isn't rigid in his schedule.
Does this seem like an autism spectrum disorder or just a speech delayed child?