Pointing gestures play an important role in early development. Hand leading and lack of pointing with the index finger are core deficits often associated with early autism. The assessment of pointing is used in many autism screenings and is considered a big red flag. Now, I want to say lack of pointing is not a definite sign. One could point to and could still have autism. One could point and could have some skills regress.
There’s a type of pointing called imperative pointing which means pointing at an item to make a request, such as pointing at a cookie on a shelf when you want a cookie. Then there’s a second type of pointing that’s even more important and it is declarative pointing, which is pointing at an object or an action to get someone’s attention. An example of this is a child pointing at an airplane in the sky.
It is an important skill as such lack of communication may develop frustration in both the kid and the parents. For this the intervention is simple; take your child’s favorite toy, book, or even the family pictures and start to ask the question with answering on your own, Shape the kid’s index finger pointing and use it to point. Start with the things that are in reach of the kid that he/she may touch and then move to the far ones, this will involve a little bit more of a process but can be done. With children with Autism, this is often a big turning point to start seeing progress.
It is a long process and may take time so have patience and keep on going.
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