Is she OK?

[22months]

I have a 22 month old.  She can recognize her letters and her numbers, she can count to 20 and we are working on her colors.  She laughs, smiles, plays with other children and is such a loving and caring child.  She doesn't have one specific favorite toy but she does have ones that she likes more than others.  To me this all sounds perfect but everyone keeps telling me there is a problem. She takes a long time to warm up to adults. The situations that concern me are when we are in large groups, she's very into the children but gets very nervous and cries if an adult pays attention to her and tries to engage.  She can usually handle the girls but if her uncles come and say HI sweetie how are you?  It's a toss up sometimes she's fine and sometimes she will look at me in sheer fright and cry. We were teaching her to use her fork a few months back and she is amazing with it and we were showing that off to my mother (whom she is with every day) and when she looked up at nana with a huge appreciative smile because she stuck the chicken with her fork and ate it, we all clapped it wasn't even a loud clap but she looked around at us and started to cry and just wanted me to pick her up.  A few weeks ago we went to a friends other kids were there and a lot of adults she doesn't know.  She was fine with most of the people but there was this one friend of ours where if he even looked at her she would begin to cry in sheer fright.  I sat next to him and explained to her who he was after a while she could cope with him being there and even brought him a toy but was very aprehensive about it, as if he made any sudden movement she was ready to run to mom.  A few months back we had all the grand children at my parents house and my mother wanted a picture of all of them In this situation she only makes it about 2 seconds before she started screaming Is it possible for her to have some kind of social disorder with adults.  She seems to be a healthy active child in every other way.  

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

There's really no way to forecast the future with any confidence. Odds are that she may well be reticent in the face of large gatherings but, if this occurs, it will likely not be much of an impediment to her.

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

It is not unusual for such young children to become overstimulated in the sorts of situations you describe. Children vary greatly in the amount of time it takes them to 'warm up' in some situations, and I see nothing abnormal in your description of your daughter. Large groups can be overwhelming to many children, and it would be prudent to be mindful of this and be cautious about the extent to which you are introducing your daughter to large groups.

[22months]

Thank you for all of your time and help.

[22months]

Thank you Dr. Kennedy.
I come from a very large open and outgoing family with lots of children with very outgoing personalities.  I feel that my family is concerned because my daughter does not fit in this category.  You have really relieved my concern just with solidifying my own thoughts of the situation.  I will definitely keep an eye on things but I have the power of knowing she needs to be eased into situations.
Is this something she should eventually get used to or should I expect this to be her personality?  I'm sure the crying when scared of new faces will stop but do you think she will evenutally have a fear to try new things?  I myself am outgoing, I never thought I'd have such a shy daughter.  Thank you again!