When Do Toddlers Follow When You Point?

If they are like my DD, never - and she is a perfectly "normal" 5 year old... just stubborn as heck.
If your son is otherwise fine and making normal progress in his development (and it sounds like he is) you don't need to be concerned.
One symptom doesn't make an autism diagnosis, as a matter of fact I would say that probably most, if not all perfectly healthy and "normal" kids show at least one "red flag" for autism, adhd (or insert any other developmental syndrome in here) at one point or another in their life.
Good luck!

I have two 4 yr olds and I have to actually tell one of them to "look at me. do you see where my finger is pointing. follow the direction it is pointing" Just saying "look over there" doesn't work for her. The other child, when I say look over there will LOOK at me to see where I am pointing, but sister has to have it all spelled out for her still.

Most pediatricians will do an MCHAT when the child is 18 months. They will ask if he looks at something and then looks back at you to see if you are looking at it too and if you point to something will he look at it too. Not necessarily if he can follow your finger but is he even trying to look at what you are pointing at.

My son had many red flags for autism at 18 months. He is 3.5 now and he is doing really well. We used the early steps program for our state and it helped a lot. He is not considered to be autistic. Most neurologists won't diagnose autism this early, they just treat for the red flags. The screenings are designed to get as many children as possible the early help that they need, so often non autistic children fall into that category. It's still very worthwhile to do any therapy's that are recommended.

I'm sure he's fine. My son didn't start getting the angle of the point til he was about 3. I taught him to come up to my finger and then trace it down to the ground. He is 5 now and still doesn't get it right all of the time!

I don't think so. My daughter didn't follow when I pointed. He'
s still a baby.--young toddler. Maybe he just doesn't follow what your pointing to...I really don't think it's a big deal. But if you have some concern, ask his pedatrition.

Standing alone, everything can be a red flag for autism. (Or any other issue, disease, or delay.) That's why the bigger picture is important. Is your child affectionate, happy, understandable (as much as a 15 month old can be!,) reactive, make eye contact, social, eat well, on point for speech, does he understand simple directions, want to learn, etc?

ONE red flag that is so minor, is not really a red flag to me. I don't think I would be concerned, at all. Not if this is the only "flag" you see.

Is that the only sign of Autism? Or is there a long list of things that are worrying you? A single thing like "not following a finger that's pointing to something" is not a concern. If it's something that's on a long list of warning signs, then there should be concern.

For instance, does your son avoid eye contact? Does he have speech delays? Does he have gross motor delays? Is he obsessive about certain things, such as organizing his toys? Does he flap his hands? Does he show extreme aversions to particular food textures, clothing textures, and other textures while playing? Has he been delayed with ALL of MOST of his milestones (aka been on the much later end of normal or past normal)? Does he understand what you're telling him (receptive language)? Can he communicate to you (expressive language)? Does he prefer to play alone? Does he he have a very narrow menu of foods (like, only two or three foods he'll eat at all)? Does he have digestive problems? Seizure disorder? Other health issues often related to Autism?

Do you see where I'm going with this? If pointing or not following the pointing is the ONLY thing that's your "red flag" for ASD then you have nothing to worry about.