is my child normal

[MMS1807]

My daughter is 3 yrs 8 months and recently she started going to preschool. on her 4th day of preschool we received a call from the director saying they have some concerns with my child. She is not able to follow the instructions of teacher , doesn't talk much to any one and makes no eye contact with anyone and she was stopped coming to school from very next day. This is the first time my child has been out of home and she never had a baby sitting and at home she is fine and active, a very happy child get along with her elder brother who is 7 yrs old. We know that she is little shy when she meets strangers and do not make eye contact with them but eventually she opens up. we speak non-English  language at home and she has difficulty picking up English language other wise she is fine in her communication.  when we can contacted our pediatrician he said child needs to be observers at least for a month and 4 days is too short to decide that she has same problem.We are very much worried and clueless. Would you suggest an evaluation?

[Sandman2]

   Thanks for sharing and I agree with you completely.  

[Sunshine5808]

My niece went had this issue when she started school. We speak Spanish and English at home, but mostly Spanish. She had difficulties in school. She was the only child in the household. She wouldn't talk with anyone she didn't know. Her preschool put her in speech therapy and a reading program and recommend she have an after school activity.  Also they recommend that we only speak English with her till she had a strong sense of the language. I also worked with preschool children. It was very common  for children who came from a non-English household to be extremely shy and not look me in the eyes. After some time it changed because they became comfortable with me. I think your daughter is not comfortable enough to interact and engage in school. She needs time to get used to her new surroundings. Also she is not used to being in a setting where everyone only speaks English. My niece was put into a bilingual class till she was more comfortable with being in all English class. Some kids are great using both languages and others are not.

[Sandman2]

        I still don't think that is real unusual for a 2nd language child at this age, but it is very important to find out what is going on.  So you are taking the right steps.   How does she do when she is playing with peers or friends of her own age - that is important.

[MMS1807]

Thanks Sandman2 for your reply
My wife finally convinced her teacher to keep my daughter in school for few more days. My wife stayed at school next day and she was shocked with my daughter's behavior. She doesn't speak to any one, makes no eye contact with teachers, doesn't respond when teacher asks something and won't sit for a long time during circle time. We are really worried the way she is behaving at school. We have applied for the district preschool where they perform developmental screening and access the child and waiting to hear from them.

[Sandman2]

     I agree with your doc for several reasons.  First, this is pretty common for children who do not speak English at home.  And, second, you do not make this diagnosis in only 4 days.  I assume that this is a private preschool?  As I can't believe an experienced public preschool would say this.
     An evaluation would be a good idea, just to show the preschool that she is a normal kid. But, it would be helpful to have it done in her native language.
     And, the more you can do at home to help her with her English, the more comfortable she will feel.  If she does not get to watch any children's tv shows in English - that would be helpful.
    Keep in touch and let us know what happens.