Charlotte Cantle’s Son Rhodes Was Saying Mama, Dada and Short Sentences, Then He Stopped Talking and Waving, and at 2 Years, 4 Months Came an Autism Diagnosis

At age 1, Rhodes Cantle was a chatty baby. He said “mama,” “dada,” “nana” and “pop-pop,” and he had started putting words into short sentences. Then, his mother Charlotte told Newsweek, the words stopped, and so did the waving. At 2 years, 4 months, Rhodes was diagnosed with autism.

Charlotte Cantle, 30, lives in the UK with her husband, Josh, 31. She shared the timeline with Newsweek in October 2026, when Rhodes was about to turn 4.

A baby who was hitting every milestone

Charlotte described Rhodes as “the perfect baby.” He slept well, was content and was reaching his milestones, according to Newsweek’s account. He could even answer simple questions, such as making a “ho ho ho” sound when asked what Santa says.

Newsweek’s account does not give a date for when things changed. Rhodes stopped talking altogether. He also stopped waving, clapping and pointing, and he no longer did the actions to simple songs.

Losing eye contact and a name response

The loss went beyond speech. Charlotte said her son’s eye contact faded and he responded poorly to his name. She told Newsweek he seemed distant and had what she called a “vacant” look.

These are the kinds of communication signs health services ask parents to watch for. The NHS list of autism signs in children includes not responding to a name, making less eye contact and using fewer facial expressions and gestures. The same page says every autistic child is different and many will not show all of the signs.

Waving is a specific marker too. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lists not playing simple back-and-forth games or using gestures like waving by 12 months among the social communication signs of autism. It adds that a child may not show all or any of the listed behaviors.

Pushing for a pediatrician referral

Charlotte took her worries to her health visitor, the UK nurse who checks on young children’s development. Newsweek reported that the health visitor was hesitant to refer Rhodes because he was so young and was not yet in nursery. Charlotte pushed, and the referral was accepted.

Within seven months of Charlotte first raising her concerns, Rhodes saw a pediatrician. He was diagnosed with autism at 2 years and 4 months.

The NHS advises parents who think a child might be autistic to speak to a GP, who may refer the child for an assessment. The CDC gives similar advice in the United States: contact the child’s doctor with any concerns about development. The NHS page also says parents can speak to the special educational needs coordinator at a school or nursery.

That gap between a parent’s worry and a first appointment is the stretch Charlotte described. Seven months can feel long when a toddler is losing skills that parents watched arrive, and her account shows why she kept pressing even when the first answer was to wait.

What researchers know about skill loss

Regression of this kind is a recognized pattern, though not every autistic child has it. A multisite study of 351 children with autism, published in Developmental Neuropsychology, interviewed caregivers about when children gained and lost social-communication milestones. It found that children who had used words meaningfully and then stopped talking had more gestures and better receptive language before the loss than other children with autism, and fewer of those skills afterward. A significant minority of children who kept their words showed a similar loss of social-communication skills.

Newsweek, citing Medical News Today, noted that regression most often appears between 15 and 30 months and that researchers have not identified a single trigger.

Grief, love and a plan for school

Charlotte was open with Newsweek about how hard the change was. She said the family was heartbroken when Rhodes lost all of his speech and skills, that it still hurts to look back at old videos and that it almost feels like a different life.

She described grieving the future she had imagined while loving Rhodes as he is. “Two things can be true at once,” she told the outlet.

The early diagnosis gave the family a head start on an Education, Health and Care Plan, known as an EHCP, before Rhodes starts school next year. The UK government’s guidance on extra special educational needs help says an EHC plan is for children and young people up to age 25 who need more support than standard special educational needs help provides. Parents can ask their local authority to assess for one, and the authority must say within 16 weeks whether it will make a plan.

The same guidance says anyone who thinks an assessment may be needed can request one, including doctors, health visitors and teachers. Families get at least 15 days to comment on a draft plan, and the local authority has 20 weeks from receiving the request to issue the final plan. For a family like the Cantles, a diagnosis in hand before school age means that process can begin well before Rhodes starts school.

Rhodes currently has one-to-one support at nursery. Newsweek reported that his speech therapy was paused because he could not engage in sessions for long enough. Charlotte said his understanding is growing, and he now follows phrases such as asking him to give his mother a kiss or to get his shoes.

He loves being outdoors and exploring, and Charlotte said he has taught the family to slow down and appreciate simple pleasures. She told Newsweek she dislikes it when people ignore non-verbal children or talk about them as if they are not there, because Rhodes is aware of what is happening around him. She also said she has found it hard to find support.

The family hopes Rhodes stays happy and healthy and can enjoy life on his own terms.

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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.

Image: Shixart1985 – CC BY 2.0/Wikimedia Commons