[volfied]

My daughter had the same diagnosis at 24 months. We caught on to something at 18 months when we saw all she was doing was either running back and forth across the room (making the same verbal sound), or pressing a light up toy's button again and again for an hour, without any other interest.

We ended up finding a behavioral specialist who worked with her on a weekly basis. From age 2 to 3, and through some of the pandemic. The day she said "I don't think your daughter needs me anymore" was one of the happiest days of our lives. I still say "Thank God for <specialist's name>" every time the topic comes up with my wife, or friends.

She challenged her, got her to come out of her shell and talk to her, and my daughter is about to start kindergarten this year. She still has verbal tics, and loves to stim by running back and forth, but she's also interacting with all her friends, loves to play imaginary games with herself and her brother, and if you didn't know her past, you wouldn't ever assume it about her.

So, yeah, find someone to help. It's worth it.