@Cannon: Sorry to hear that. How bad is it, is it actually more like Asperger's Syndrome? I know 2 people with Asperger and while not communicatively great they're still able to function properly. When it comes to their strengths they're actually brilliant.
Regardless, it's good to hear your reaction, it's the only way a parent should react to such news. Good man, good boy.
He is just now at 3 1/2 developing communication skills where he can use words to ask what he wants with more than a couple words. He's also been entrenched with echolalia, which is simply repeating phrases, rather than assembling your own. For example, today it was a big deal because he said "I want kool-aid" rather than saying "Want some kool-aid?". He doesn't understand potty training. He'll mimic the action, but whether or not he actually uses the toilet is entirely random.
He's also got a severe fascination with fans (a possible aspergers symptom, but also a common autistic development), and he will occasionally just stop whatever he is doing and spin around while looking at the ceiling (possibly as a sensory self adjustment).
There's a lot of little telltales and small issues that don't seem like such a problem except when put up against other kids his age or younger. The speech development issues are the most obvious, but he also has gross motor functions that haven't developed, like holding himself up on a swing, climbing a ladder, jumping, catching a ball consistently, throwing overhand, stuff like that.
