Autism Milestone Variation Chart

Lucie Cunningham

Typical Communicative Milestones

Impaired understanding of nonverbal

communication such as eye gaze
Difficulty reading facial expression and
other emotional cues
Difficulty with reciprocal interaction- turn-
taking with sounds

Expansion Stage- makes a variety of

noises, uses expression, laughs
Understands own name

May lack the natural curiosity about people

and emotional expression

Canonical Babbling
Intentional communication begins
Uses vocalization with intonation
Responds own name
Understands names of important people
(ex. Mom, dad)
Responds to human voices without visual
cues by turning his head and eyes
Responds appropriately to friendly and
angry tones

Impaired ability to communicate

intentionally for a variety of reasons
Less likely to communicate for social
pleasure
May miss subtle social and emotional
messages such as friendly and angry
tones

INFANCY

INFANCY
6-8
4-6
2-3

months
months months

Possible Problematic Variations for

Individuals with Autism

Phonation stage- makes noises without

using vocal cords
Increasing ability to maintain attention for
nonverbal interpersonal interaction
Gooing and Cooing stage- begins to make
vocal sounds
Begins reciprocal interaction by making
sounds and taking turns with caregiver

0-1
month

8-12
months

Variegated Babbling
Develops intentional communication using
gestures, pointing, and eye contact
Begins to develop joint attention

TODDLERHOOD

12-18 months

Symbolic communication- begins use of

symbols, words, and gestures with
meaning
Says first word with intention and purpose
Understands simple instructions, especially
if vocal or physical cues are given
Practices inflection
Aware of social value of speech
Uses multi-word utterances, combines
words into short sentences, has mastery of
yes/no and wh- questions
Has an expressive and receptive
vocabulary spurt, 5-20 words at 18
months, 150- 300 words at 24 months, and
900-1000 words at 36 months
Uses a variety of language functions-
instrumental, regulatory, personal
interactional, heuristic, imaginative, and
informative
Names and shows objects to others and
relates experiences

Does not point out things of interest

Limited ability to understand and use
nonverbal communication such as
gestures, expression and eye contact
Lack of communication to share or use
joint attention
Misinterprets the communication of others
May lack desire for social communication
Impaired social and emotional
understanding with language
Communicates for limited reasons

Difficulty with the reciprocal communication

skills needed to ask and answer questions
May lack the curiosity about people and
social activity that leads to vocabulary
acquisition
Uses communication for limited functions,
such as requesting
Less likely to communicate to share
interests or relate experiences
Poor comprehension of communication by
others

PRE-SCHOOL
AGE
SCHOOL AGE

Able to repeat and form longer sentences

with correct grammar
13,000 vocabulary words by kindergarten
and has decontextualized language
Has more language functions- interpreting,
making logic, participating, organizing,
narrating
Develops turn-taking skills, uses extensive
verbalization during activities, able to
follow multi-step commands, and responds
to others feelings during interactions
Emergent Literacy: Reading and writing
conventions, print awareness, phonological
awareness
Uses complex syntax, uses 60,000 words
by graduation, understands multiple
meanings, lexical ambiguity, and figurative
language
Uses verbal and written language for a
variety of purposes- compare/contrast,
persuade, hypothesize, explain, classify,
predict
Able to engage in flexible conversations
through verbal and nonverbal
communication and responding to social-
emotional cues
Command of reading and writing-
alphabetic principle, decoding,
confirmation, fluency, ungluing from print,
reading for learning, multiple viewpoints

Has poor generalization of language

meaning due to difficulty considering the
social context of the communication
Seeks to communicate in routine, ritualized
ways due to difficulty with flexible
communication
Misinterprets or make incorrect
associations
Difficulty with reciprocal language- initiating
new ideas and responding to what another
person says or does
May be unable to initiate or maintain a
conversation
Has concrete interpretations, difficulty with
abstract information and thinking, and
context-specific comprehension
Difficulty understanding words with multiple
meanings
May use echolalia and verbal rituals that
impede conversation and meaningful
social interactions
Difficulty using language in unstructured or
unpredictable situations
Literal understanding may impede reading
comprehension skills
Difficulty understanding social-emotional
relationships and experiences
Difficulty with perspective taking to
understand another persons viewpoint

Source: Quill, K. A. (2000). Do-watch-listen-say: Social and communication intervention for children with autism. Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes
Pub.