My son was dxd 2 1/2 with pdd-nos which is on the autism spectrum.
At 16months he knew his alphabet.
Proud momma thinks He's a genius! (and he is)
My son had a symptom called Hyperlexia (opposite of dyslexia) - fascination with symbols - letters & numbers. It was very very obvious if we got around any letters...I remember going to girlfriends house...my son was totally fixated on letters to the exclusion of all else.
By one year he had a few words...BUT Mama wasnt one of those first words.
By two years he was reading ...with no formal teaching from me.
At 2 years he had 70 words and by 2 1/2 he had 350 words.
At 3 years he was putting two words together and had thousands of words.
However - NONE of his language was social. Meaning no 'LOOK' sharing a moment of enjoyment with mom/dad. from a kid that could say ABACUS, alligator, trapezoid...clearly the ability was there.
According to pediatrician his language was not clinically delayed. So he fits into the Asperger's category, but still carries the pdd-nos dx formally.
He got 40 hrs per week ABA, floortime, along with DIR, DRI, from the time he was 2 1/2 which helped him tremendously.
He is now 5yo mainstreamed (with support) and is the first one to finish his worksheets. Academically we are lucky he is very gifted. He now tells us he loves us, and shows empathy and has friends. He is not as social as other typical kids...but there are so many techniques to help these kids today, I now know he is going to be just fine. Something I couldnt say at 2.
Hang in there. These kids are gifts to us.
Great summation at bottom of this website of all the DXs on the spectrum
http://www.pediatricneurology.com/autism.htm